1 


/"•"'""^ 

LIBRARY 

1     UNIVERSITY  OP     1 
\CALIFORNIA ,/ 


ADMIRAL  GEORGE  DEWEY,  U.  S.  N, 


TAKING   MANILA 


IN  THE  PHILIPPINES  WITH  DEWEY 

GIVING  THE   LIFE   AND   EXPLOITS   OF 

ADMIRAL  GEORGE  DEWEY,  U.  S.  N 


BY 

HENRY  L.  WILLIAMS 


NEW  YORK: 

HURST  AND  COMPANY, 
PUBLISHERS. 


IOAN  STACK 

COPYRIGHT,  1899, 

BY 
THOMAS   D.    HURST. 


THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HOW  THE  PLANT  MAY  BE  SEEN  IX  THE  GERM. — ES 
TIMABLE  FORERUNNERS. — BOYISH  SCAPES  AND 
SCRAPES. — THE  SCHOOL  REVOLT  AND  THE  NOBLE 
APOLOGY. 

THERE  is  an  old  saying,  and  it  is  often  true,  that 
"  As  the  twig  is  bent,  so  is  the  tree  inclined."  It 
is  always  interesting,  therefore,  to  trace  back  the 
forerunners  of  a  great  man,  just  to  see  if  there 
were  tokens  of  the  future  in  the  past  members  of  a 
race. 

Without  attaching  the  weight  to  a  family  line 
which  is  done  in  the  Old  World,  where  entailed 
property  causes  a  pedigree  to  be  of  value,  the  Dewey 
family  have  reason  to  be  proud,  in  a  really  American 
way,  of  their  ancestry. 

If  they  want  to  boast  of  (t  blue  blood,"  that  is, 
knightly  or  royal,  the  genealogists  claim  that  the 
first  Dewey  (the  name  is  variously  given,  but  was 
something  like  De  Ueuea,  probably  De  Vevay)  won 
fame  in  attendance  on  Charlemagne,  or  Karl  the 
Great,  if  not  that  little  King  Pepin,  whose  bravery 

710  5 


6  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

gave  a  significance  to  the  word  "pippin,"  in  the 
sense  in  which  boys  use  it  to  this  day. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  first  spelling  of  the  name  in 
English  documents  is  "  Duee." 

The  wearer  was  one  Thomas  Duee,  who  left  Eng 
land  to  make  a  home  in  the  Colonies  in  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  became  known  as 
tf  Dewey  the  Settler  "  from  the  thriving  of  his  family 
in  the  land  wrested  from  the  savages  of  New  Eng 
land. 

In  the  summer  of  163.3,  Thomas  Dewey  was  living 
in  Boston,  where  he  was  working  to  obtain  a  land 
grant,  as,  like  most  of  the  Dissenters  (those  who 
dissented  from  the  State  Religion  of  England),  lie 
sought  to  dwell  afar  in  the  wilds,  rather  than  be 
within  possible  reach  of  the  annoyances  bristling 
against  foes  of  the  Established  Church.  The  Mas 
sachusetts  Colony  sold  him  a  tract  in  Dorchester,  in 
December  of  the  following  year,  and  as  he  had  a 
clear  idea  of  the  capability  of  growth  in  the  virgin 
territory,  he  added  another  portion  to  it  in  July, 
1035. 

To  go  upon  the  location,  he  had  to  cut  his  way 
through  the  primeval  forests  of  maple,  pine  and  oak, 
and  with  the  felled  and  hewn  logs,  build  such  a 
cabin  as  one  now  sees,  in  that  region,  in  pictures 
alone. 

The  musket  went  besides  the  ax,  for  the  natives 
did  not  always  confirm  the  decrees  of  the  Land  Court 
of  the  Colony,  and  they  had  a  sweet  tooth  which  did 
not  disdain  the  English  fruit  and  vegetables  strug 
gling  with  the  luxuriant  wild  weeds  in  the  garden 
patch  as  if  all  nature  resented  the 'cross-sea  intruders' 
coining. 

Thomas's  immediate  descendants  bear  those  Scrip 
tural  names  which  alone  would  tell  of  the  Puritanical 
strain  :  Mercy,  Mehitable,  Simeon,  Hepzibah,  etc. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  7 

Being  beset  by  that  fever  of  change  causing  the 
"  Bostons,"  as  the  Indians  nicknamed  the  Yankees,, 
to  permeate  the  whole  of  the  Americas,  Thomas 
had  scarcely  more  than  cleared  his  lots,  before  he 
wanted  to  dispose  of  them,  and  he  is  next  found  in 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  where,  at  Windsor,  he 
found  a  site  more  to  his  taste  than  that  at  Dorches 
ter,  of  which  he  relieved  himself  to  one  of  the  Jones 
family.  In  this  transfer  he  simply  puts  down  his 
mark.  It  appears  that  a  mark  was  not  always  a 
proof  of  lack  of  letters,  as  old  documents  were  reck 
oned  valid  even  if  the  signer  only  used  his  family 
crest  and  motto,  and  the  attesting  clerk  wrote  his 
initials.  Dewey  might  have  used  a  proud  one,  for 
he  had  an  eminent  French  general  among  forbears, 
and  the  house  motto  is  :  "  To  the  Conqueror  the 
Crown  I" 

The  Dorchester  land  amounted  to  thirty  acres, 
cleared  of  the  woods  so  as  to  be  pasture,  which  stands 
for  a  good  piece  of  ax- work  and  stump-pulling. 
Besides,  the  American  woodsman's  ax  was  not  in 
vented  then,  and  to  hew  a  tree  down  with  a  broad- 
ax  was  decidedly  hard  labor. 

His  son,  Thomas,  showed  the  valor  of  the  blood  ; 
he  was  a  cornet  of  horse  in  the  war  against  the 
Indian  chief,  called,  grandly,  "King"  Philip.  His 
tomb  was  to  be  seen  at  Westfield,  Mass.  His  son 
Samuel  was  a  soldier  in  the  regular  corps  defending 
Westfield  and  the  neighborhood,  in  1725.  Other 
Deweys  appear  in  the  front  in  all  the  military  affairs 
which  kept  the  farmers  inured  to  weapons  of  war 
and  fitted  them  not  inadequately  to  cope  with  the 
French  or  the  British  and  their  German  hirelings 
during  the  troubles  of  the  Colonies  and  the  Revolu 
tion. 

The  Paladins  of  Pepin  and  the  Chevaliers  of  Char 
lemagne  have  no  cause  to  blush,  unless  with  pride, 


8  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

if  they  should  know  of  their  descendants*  behavior 
as  "  Green  Mountain  Boys  "  and  "  Minute  Men." 

Cradled  in  the  Bay  State,  the  rising  Deweys  soon 
spread  their  wings  for  a  wider  range.  In  1761,  a 
party  of  explorers  obtained  a  land  grant  from  the 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire  to  locate  in  the  Green 
Mountain  State.  They  belonged  to  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut.  The  place  had  been  surveyed, 
after  a  rough  way,  some  ten  years  before,  and  so  the 
road — what  a  road  ! — was  indicated  b}T  cutting  oil 
slices  of  the  tree  bark  so  that  the  inner  white  showed 
up  clearly,  being  the  "  blazes,"  often  alluded  to  as 
"  signs "  in  early  rustic  story.  Thus  the  immi 
grants,  riding  horses — for  no  vehicles  could  traverse 
the  wilderness — reached  what  is  since  Bennington. 
The  town  was  then  in  suspense,  having  been  ten  years 
waiting  to  fulfil  the  grant  for  fifty  families  to  make  a 
town,  when  a  fair  could  be  held  and  a  market.  Educa 
tion  and  religion  went  hand  in  hand  with  the  Puritans, 
for  one  lot  of  the  sixty  odd  was  devoted  to  the  school, 
and  another  to  the  minister,  Now  this  minister 
was  Jedediah  Dewey,  the  source  of  the  Vermont 
Deweys. 

(Another  branch,  be  it  mentioned  by  the  way, 
plunged  still  farther  into  the  "  strange  countrie,"  and 
settled  in  New  York.) 

The  traits  of  these  heads  of  families  are  independ 
ence,  that  acute  and  alert  mental  arithmetic  which 
distinguishes  "  lightning  calculators,"  and  the  New 
Englanders  in  particular,  and  choice  of  friends  and 
those  more  intimate  still,  without  regard  to  kin  or 
clan. 

Simeon  Dewey  was  born  in  1770  ;  he  was  grand 
father  of  our  subject.  He  was  of  New  Hampshire, 
belonging  to  Hanover;  but,  when  a  young  man, 
bought  a  homestead  at  Berlin,  a  few  miles  from 
Montpelier  ("  On  the  Onion,"  as  we  used  to  chant  in 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  9 

onr  geographical  lessons,  before  the  folks  there  be 
came  nice  and  took  the  vulgar  name  from  the  river 
and  bestowed  that  of  its  confluent,  the  Winooski,  on 
the  two  streams).  His  son,  the  admiral's  father,  was 
born  here,  in  1801.  His  mother  was  Pauline  Temons, 
and  the  latter  name  becomes  the  middle  one  for  Dr. 
Julius  T.  Dewey. 

Simeon  was  dubbed  "the  Captain/'  He  was  ex 
ceedingly  hale  and  long-lived,  like  the  old  iron-sided 
settlers'  stock. 

When  the  admiral's  brother  was  visiting  England, 
not  so  long  ago,  he  overheard,  in  company,  a  gentle 
man  who  derived  his  impression  of  Americans  from 
the  type  in  the  comic  press,  that  is  to  say,  a  sort  of 
Lincoln  and  Sam  Slick,  tall,  ungainly,  sallow,  hollow- 
cheeked,  and  consumptive  : 

"These  '  cornstalks'  die  early  because  they  try  to 
live  on  ice-water  and  fried  pork  ! " 

Mr.  Charles  Dewey  could  not  let  this  pass.  He 
rose  to  thank  the  slanderer  for  explaining  the  mystery 
of  his  (Dewey's)  grandfather  having  been  cut  off 
untimely  at  four  score  and  eighteen  by  too  much 
ice-water  and  fried  pork,  to  which  dainties  the  old 
pioneer  had  been  addicted  from  childhood  ! 

Dewey's  father  was  made  happy  by  his  son,  the 
hero,  being  born  to  him  on  the  day  after  Christmas, 
in  1837.  George  was  a  robust,  sturdy  child,  not  at 
all  after  the  pattern  of  the  elongated  Yankee  fed  on 
ice-water  and  scrapple. 

The  birthplace  cottage — utterly  unlike  the  "cot 
tages  "  which  are  villas,  to  be  seen  in  the  Green 
Mountains  nowadays — has  not  only  been  made  mod 
ern,  but  removed  from  its  old  site  where  it  stood 
opposite  the  Capitol  building,  to  another  spot  down 
the  street. 

When  pur  hero  was  a  boy,  the  Onion  River  ran 
close  behind  the  dwelling,  which  nata rally  attracted 


1O  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

the  youth,  and  was  the  scene  of  his  aquatic  adven 
tures. 

A  younger  sister  was  at  the  first  his  companion  in 
sports,  which  comprised  fishing  and  "scow  "-ing  on 
the  water. 

George  became  the  best  swimmer  in  the  town,  an 
accomplishment  which  the  critics  were  too  much 
inlanders  to  censure,  for  it  was  an  article  of  faith 
among  the  old-time  mariners  that  a  seaman  should 
not  know  how  to  swim,  so  that  nothing  should  induce 
him  to  leave  a  ship  going  down  while  it  was  likely 
that  clinging  to  her  would  serve  to  keep  her  longer 
afloat. 

Dr.  Dewey  was  a  great  favorite  in  the  town,  being 
of  the  new  school  opposed  to  the  blunt,  rough  Dr. 
Abernethy's.  The  Deweys  have  always  been  leaders 
in  the  society  of  Montpelier,  and  the  doctor  was 
especially  so.  Versed  in  music  and  poetry,  with  a 
library  not  all  of  scientific  works,  he  was  one  of  those 
ministrants  of  medicine  whose  smile  and  address 
helped  to  banish  sharp  malady  as  well  a£  dull  care. 
In  his  leisure,  if  a  country  practitioner  can  be  said 
to  have  leisure,  he  built  up  an  insurance  company 
which  prospers  after  his  quitting  the  helm,  in  1877. 

Beside*  the  course  of  the  regular  physician,  as  is 
allowable  in  a  country  town,  the  doctor  was  a  dentist. 

One  day,  as  George  was  playing  before  the  house 
with  a  mate  (who  relates  the  following  occurrence), 
a  woman  came  up  and  alighted  from  a  buggy.  By 
her  agonized  expression  and  the  swollen  ^cheek  done 
up  in  the  gorgeous  bandana  handkerchief, .held  as 
a  sign  of  a  certain  rank  in  those  days,  the  boys-sur 
mised  it  was  a  patient.  But  when  the  neighbor's 
boy  diagnosed  the  matter  as  "  mumps,"  George  de 
murred  and  more  scientifically  adjudged  it  to  be  an 
aching  tooth. 

The  doctor  came  forth  flpQR  his  sou  calling,  and 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  II 

as  the  woman,  more  faint  with  apprehension  than 
even  with  her  pain,  sank  on  the  nearest  seat,  namely, 
the  doorway  step,  he  hastened  to  save  her  from 
farther  trouble  by  proposing  to  relieve  her  of  the 
molar  upon  the  spot.  Besides,  there  was  a  better 
light  in  the  broad  day  than  indoors,  while  the  street 
was  at  the  moment — as  it  is  at  any  hour  when  "  the 
House  is  not  sitting  " — quiet  and  unpeopled. 

Still,  the  patient  was  uneasy  without  a  head-rest, 
such  as  the  sharp-edged  doorpost  badly  afforded. 
The  doctor  called  the  boy  playmate  to  the  aid, 
stationing  him  so  as  to  support  the  patient's  head, 
with  his  hands  holding  it  between  them.  The  fash 
ionable  extracting  instrument  at  the  period  was  a 
sort  of  turning-key,  the  sight  of  which  usually  par 
alyzed  the  victim  into  calm  ;  but,  on  this  occasion, 
whatever  the  sight  of  it  did,  the  first  turn  and  wrench 
drew  from  her,  not  the  tooth,  but  a  scream  which 
echoed  up  and  down  the  elm-lined  street  and  died 
away  in  the  Capitol  corridor  with  mournful  echoes 
in  the  granite  niche  where  stands  the  colossal  statue 
of  Ethan  Allen. 

The  poor  youth,  who  had  never  heard  such  an 
outcry  except  in  dreams  of  the  Pequots  and  Algon- 
quins,  was  shaken  with  horror,  and  dropping  the 
woman's  head  and  all  ideas  of  duty,  fled  up  the  street, 
vaulting  over  the  white  picket  fence  rather  than 
delay  to  find  the  gate. 

Not  so  his  companion,  who  might  be  thrilled  but 
not  set  to  flight  by  a  simple  yell.  He  flew  to  the 
woman's  side,  caught  the  sinking  head  "on  tho 
bounce,"  and  replaced  the  fugitive  so  quickly  and  to 
the  better  that  his  father  was  enabled  to  finish  the 
operation  with  his  wonted  success  awaiting  such 
affairs. 

When  next  the  two  playfellows  met,  George  rather 
sneered  at  one  who  had  proved  delinquent  for  so 


12  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

little,  since,  he  propounded,  a  woman's  screams  could 
not  hurt.  Alas  !  when  he  was  older,  he  must  have 
read  that  shrieks  of  the  gentler  sex  have  undone 
worlds,  as  witness  those  of  Thai's,  Cassandra  and 
Lucretia. 

The  cycle  of  sports  for  juveniles  at  Montpelier  is 
limited.  At  that  time,  with  that  zest  for  fruit  in 
other  folk's  gardens,  so  far  the  sweeter  than  those 
growing  under  our  own  outlook,  of  course,  the  young 
Green  Mountain  boys  went  "  hooking  apples."  They 
did  not  disdain  cherries,  and  those  peaches  which 
resist  the  terrible  black  frosts  of  New  England. 
Tradition  has  it  that  George  was  the  leader  in  this 
game  of  "dare-devil,"  otherwise,  "follow-my- 
leader." 

But  boys  will  be  boys,  and  these  freaks,  which 
would  be  held  as  infringing  on  the  statutes  against 
purloining,  do  not  count  against  those  who  take  in 
sport  and  not  for  gain  ;  besides,  much  is  to  be  for 
given  in  a  future  hero.  These  flights  were  no  more 
marked  with  black  than  young  dive's,  afterwards 
Viceroy  of  the  East  Indies,  climbing  his  village 
church-steeple. 

In  the  summer,  too,  were  those  wondrous  strolls, 
with  the  proviso  that  whoever  first  suggested  a  re 
turn  should-  suffer  the  kicks  of  the  rest  of  the  party  ! 
But  George's  earlier  wanderings  were  in  the  company 
of  tine  young  sister  referred  to,  with  whom  they  sur 
mounted  what  hills  were  Alps  to  them,  and  peered 
into  crevices  in  whose  black  depths,  no  doubt,  they 
fancied  to  see  wolves  like  Old  Put's. 

In  his  scant  library  were  the  inevitable  "Robinson 
Crusoe  "  and  a  Life  of  Hannibal.  It  was  to  outdo 
the  Lonely  Man  of  the  Ocean  and  the  enemy  of  Rome 
that  his  dashes  into  the  outer  zone  around  home 
were  projected. 

But  if  the  rustic  sports  at  summer-tide  are  re* 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  13 

stricted,  it  is  different  with  those  of  winter  in  the 
North. 

The  snow  piles  up  in  the  erst  verdant  vales  and 
the  rivers  run  under  thickest  ice. 

It  is  stated  that  the  daring  couple  ended  one 
attempt  to  cross  their  Alps  in  a  snow-drift ;  when 
the  children  were  rescued,  Mary  had  such  an  unro- 
mantic  cold  that  she  was  a  week  in  bed,  though  the 
hardier  little  Carthaginian  escaped,  as  the  ring 
leaders  often  do  while  the  followers  are  less  lucky. 

At  the  close  of  winter  occurs  in  this  region  the 
great  spectacle  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  frost-bound 
rivers.  The  ice-gorges  blow  up,  the  natural  dams 
burst,  the  firm  surface,  over  which  an  artillery  train 
might  have  passed  at  a  gallop,  becomes  "  pumpy," 
or  leathery,  and  only  a  snow-bird  would,  one  thinks, 
care  to  flit  along  the  treacherous  skin. 

This  is  the  very  time,  because  it  is  fraught  with 
dangers,  and  death  walks  by  the  side  like  a  mis- 
guarding  angel,  when  the  Vermont  youth  disport 
on  the  shivered  slabs  of  ice  and  attempt  passages  to 
which  are  mere  everyday  affairs  such  glacial  cross 
ings  as  Washington's  over  the  Delaware  and  Xapoleon 
over  the  Beresina. 

After  the  rivers,  the  Onion  audits  main  tributary 
at  Montpelier,  force  the  splintered  ice  blocks  to  leave 
the  town  clear  and  dam  up  the  stream  at  a  point 
half  a  dozen  miles  below,  it  was  the  amusement — 
and  may  still  be  so — to  mount  a  floating  fragment 
and  sail  down  to  land,  more  or  less  in  jeopardy  all 
the  course,  on  this  hazardous  resting-place — for  at 
any  moment  this  temporary  barrier  might  give  way 
and  proceed  on  its  ultimate  "fast,  winding  way  to 
the  sea." 

The  smaller  the  cake,  the  more  grand  the  feat,  so 
it  is  reckoned  in  this  Feat  of  the  American  Fjords  ; 
therefore,  the  adventurer  who  managed  to  keep  hit 


14  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

footing  on  a  base  so  small  that  his  weight  more  oi 
less  deeply  submerged  it,  would  take  the  palm. 
Dewey,  already  favorite  of  the  river-gods,  and  to  be 
that  of  the  oceanic  divinity,  was  foremost  in  these 
Arctic  jousts  and  tilts.  He  above  all  could  balance 
on  the  merest  pedestal,  navigate  it  amidst  other 
bergs,  neither  let  one  piece  slide  upon  his  and  sub 
merge  it,  or  another  under-ride  and  capsize  him  ;  he 
would  dodge  a  bridge  pediment  and  shoot  a  rapid  at 
a  pier,  steer  from  eddies  where  the  unfortunate  were 
stayed  and  spun  round  and  round  until  their  heads 
also  swam ;  he  would  execute  curves  around  short 
bends  and  in  and  out  of  "  hooks,"  which  were  the 
terrors  of  the  year's  talk  to  his  comrades. 

But,  at  least  once,  the  water  turned  upon  him 
and  he  retired,  for  the  first  and  only  time,  defeated. 

This  was  in  the  summer,  when  he  was  a  little 
more  than  eleven.  He  had  a  chum  with  him,  for 
he  has  always  been  attended  by  a  faithful  companion, 
which  shows  what  a  sociable  heart  is  in  this  indom 
itable  son  of  Neptune.  They  set  out  in  the  family 
buggy,  which  was  so  well  known  throughout  the 
section  from  bearing  the  doctor  on  his  errands  of 
aid.  The  pair  were  supposed  to  go  "  after  the 
cows,"  that  diurnal  task  at  which  many  a  New  Eng 
land  lad  has  revolted  and  urged  as  ample  cause  of 
his  running  away  to  sea  !  But  the  rain  had  fallen 
torrentuously  and  swollen  a  creek  into  avast  volume 
at  which  Redfield,  the  associate,  shrank  without 
reason  to  blame  him.  He  would  have  advised  a  re 
turn  trip,  but  he  knew  too  well  how  headstrong  was 
his  companion.  Indeed,  George  just  gathered  up 
the  reins  and  put  old  Dobbin  to  the  rush  at  tlio 
ford,  like  Alexander  riding  Bucephalus  into  the 
Granious. 

At  the  first  plunge,  the  steed  lost  footing  and  the 
weight  of  the  boys  separated  the  body  of  the  carriage 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  1 5 

from  the  axle.  Foreseeing  some  such  disaster,  the 
passengers  had  sprung  out  forward  and  clung  to  the 
back  and  neck  of  the  animal,  prudently  already 
turning  for  the  shore,  while  the  upper-works  of  the 
buggy  were  hurried  away.  The  boys,  limp  as  their 
wet  rags,  reached  home  cold  and  shivering.  Red- 
field  dropped  off  and  slunk  into  his  house,  while  the 
other  got  home  after  dark,  without  saying  a  word 
about  cows  or  vehicle.  For  a  wonder  he  refused 
supper  and  took  advantage  of  his  father  being  absent 
on  a  professional  engagement  to  ensconce  himself 
between  the  sheets  in  his  own  bedroom. 

This  disappearance,  and  the  unusual  disrespect  to 
the  evening  meal,  to  say  nothing  of  Dobbin's  having 
mysteriously  dispensed  with  his  equipage,  excited 
the  doctor's  fears  when  he  arrived  home  ;  he  ran  up 
to  question  his  son,  but  from  the  other  side  of  the 
prudently  fastened  door,  the  boy,  pretending  to  be 
awakened  when  reproached  with  his  rashness,  of 
which  Redfield  had  given  an  inkling,  ingeniously 
replied  : 

"  Some  fathers  would  be  glad  their  boy  was 
spared  ! " 

Dewey,  Pater,  decided  that  it  was  time  that 
school  should  open  its  portals  for  the  future  Nelson 
of  America.  Home  rearing  and  a  boy's  circum 
scribed  library  do  not  amply  fit  a  youth  for  the  wide 
world.  But  it  was  an  evil  hour  for  learning.  The 
county  grammar  school  was  apparently  spoiled  by 
the  inability  to  obtain  a  Dr.  Arnold,  a  Dwight  or 
any  one  to  draw  out  the  ingots  from  the  dross  rather 
than  separate  the  knob  of  pure  gold  which  had  little 
needed  the  flame  and  the  crucible.  In  a  word,  the 
school  had  sunk  to  a  low  stage.  The  teacher  ap 
pointed  about  the  time  when  Dewey  was  to  be  tried 
was  one  Zen  as  K.  Pangborn,  who  lives  to  this  day 
not  merely  to  tell  of  the  following  career-forming 


l6  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

event,  but  to  be  foremost  to  greet  his  eminent  pupil 
as  he  received  the  national  welcome. 

Mr.  Pangborn,  graduating  from  a  college,  was 
fetruck  with  amaze  at  the  absence  of  order  in  the 
school  assigned  to  his  book  and  rod.  The  fault  with 
the  intermediate  schools  of  that  period  was  the  want 
cf  a  proper  outlet :  most  of  the  boys  were  required 
to  assist  their  parents  at  the  plow,  the  counter  or  the 
work-bench,  so  that  parents  and  pupils  felt  that  high 
finish  to  their  useful  training  was  over  the  head  of 
their  destination.  A  normal  school  might  have 
taken  the  percentage  who  should  have  finished  in 
the  higher  courses  and  have  been  put  in  positions 
the  better  to  serve  the  city,  their  state  and  the 
country. 

Mr.  Pangborn  hoped  to  redeem  the  ills,  and,  to 
begin  with,  studied  the  pupils.  They  were  in  a  con 
dition  of  insubordination  which  cruelty  and  domi 
neering  had  incited  and  ignorance  and  lack  of 
sympathy  with  the  seething  youth  had  fostered.  In 
all  the  ceaseless  rebellion,  aimed  at  authority  merely 
because  it  was  uppermost,  George  Dewey  was  fore 
most,  the  crest  on  the  wave. 

Mr.  Pangborn  was  warned  that  several  of  his  fore- 
goers  had  been  forced  to  quit  by  reason  of  the  over 
bearing  acts  of  this  stripling,  one  whose  frank, 
hearty  and  manly  mien  inspired  good- will  in  any  one 
truly  a  guide  for  rising  spirits. 

It  was  plain  that  unless  he,  the  teacher,  were 
also  to  resign,  the  post  would  be  one  of  misery  to 
the  newcomer.  So  Mr.  Pangborn  promptly  resolved 
to  seize  the  first  emergency  and  crush  all  opposition 
to  authority  once  and  forever. 

Scholars  are  apt  to  test  the  humor  of  a  pedagogue 
by  decoying  him  into  joining  in  their  sports,  notably, 
"  knuckle-all-over,"  a  sort  of  free-for-all  game  with 
a  ball,  which  is  to  be  thrown  by  the  holder  at  any 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  1 7 

one  whom  he  chooses  to  make  his  mark.  Now,  if 
the  schoolmaster  finds,  as  soon  as  he  will,  that  lie  is 
almost  continually  the  target,  he  has  but  two  courses 
— to  stop  the  game  and  acknowledge  he  is  no  master 
at  so  one-sided  a  pastime,  or  to  get  the  ball  as  often 
as  he  can  and  ' '  fire  "  it  with  his  superior  strength  to 
give  the  boys  the  worst  of  it. 

The  Dewey  battalion  did  not  try  the  base-ball  but 
one  of  the  pure  arid  innocent  snow,  familiar  in 
winter.  Snow  did  not  suffice  them,  but  they  must 
need  saturate  the  same  in  water,  which,  freezing, 
makes  the  missile  about  as  hard  as  a  cannon-ball. 

On  seeing  this  unfairness,  which  portended  some 
thing  more  than  common  prejudice,  the  school 
master  called  a  truce,  but  it  was  only  to  have  the 
return  charge  more  in  his  own  domain,  and  with  his 
own  professional  weapons. 

He  had  not  long  to  wait  the  second  bout. 

George,  on  being  taken  to  task  for  an  offense, 
answered  with  an  expression  bordering  on  profanity 
in  a  schoolroom,  and  certainly  disrespectful.  He 
was  immediately  commanded  to  offer  an  apology  to 
teacher  and  class,  and  promise  to  behave  properly 
in  the  future  or  receive  a  thrashing. 

This  was  the  era  when  the  rattan  had  displaced 
the  birch  and  the  cat,  and  was  itself  jostled  aside  by 
the  truly  native  cowhide,  which  hung  at  the  wrist 
of  Mr.  Pangborn. 

The  rebel  looked  at  the  speaker  and  concluded 
that  he  was  not  so  bad  a  match  for  a  little  man  of 
less  than  a  hundred- weight ;  he  impudently  repeated 
his  offensive  phrase  instead  of  withdrawing  and 
making  amends.  This  was  a  "  standing  to  his 
guns,"  which  the  boys  applauded  in  a  murmur 
rather  than  a  shout,  for  all  felt  that  a  crisis  had 
come. 

The  crisis  descended  instantly  upon  the  attractor 
2 


18  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

of  the  thunderbolt,  for  the  "little"  disciplinarian 
was  upon  him,  seizing  his  arm  and  brandishing  the 
whip. 

To  use  the  principal's  own  words  : 

(t  The  next  instant,  I  and  that  rawhide  were 
winding  and  tossing  around  Dewey  like  the  fire  of 
one  of  those  warships  which  have  made  his  name 
famous  the  world  over.  I  was  little  and  slender,  but 
so  also  was  the  rawhide,  and  the  two  of  us  so 
demoralized  Dewey  that  almost  before  I  was  aware 
of  it,  he  was  lying  in  a  heap  on  the  floor.  He  was 
bleeding  from  a  wound  in  the  hand,  and  whimpering 
as  any  boy  would  on  receiving  so  tremendous  a 
thrashing.  He  was  conquered,  while  I  glared  over 
his  prostrate  form  at  the  other  rebellious  spirits  in 
the  school." 

Well,  these  schoolmates  adored  their  chief.  Their 
surprise  at  his  being  thrown  down  was  so  extreme 
that  they  were  motionless  for  a  while.  But,  on  re 
covering,  half  a  dozen  of  them  rushed  down  the  row 
of  desks,  with  blood  in  their  eyes.  However,  that  of 
their  ill-treated  Mentor  was  also  up  to  boiling. 
Pangborn  was  by  the  pile  of  firewood  (built,  as  you 
know,  with  the  contributions  of  the  parents  of  pupils 
and  brought  by  armsful  each  morning  as  part  pay 
ment  of  their  tuition).  Seizing  one  billet,  he 
brought  it  down  on  the  head  of  the  first  comer  and 
felled  him  so  that  he  became  a  bar  to  the  advance  of 
the  rest,  who,  however,  paused. 

The  victorious  master  bade  them  take  their  seats, 
and  as  they  did  so,  the  revolt  was  quelled. 

As  soon  as  damages  were  repaired,  Dewey  was 
ordered  home,  but  straightway  followed  by  Pangborn 
and  the  boys,  as  witnesses  and  curious  lookers-on. 

Dr.  Dewey  took  the  heads  of  this  curious  proces 
sion  into  his  parlor  and  heard  the  tale,  besides  pro 
fessionally  examining  the  weals  on  his  son.  He 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  19 

was  a  just  man,  for  he  considered  that  he  had  been 
meetly  punished,  and  it  was  intimated  that  if  he 
thought  he  was  not  fully  done  by,  he,  the  sire, 
would  make  up  the  missing  stripes.  The  next  day, 
when  the  scholars  expected  a  ''scene"  after  the 
former  event,  George  gravely  walked  up  to  the 
master  and  handsomely  said  : 

"  Father  and  I  have  talked  the  matter  over.  We 
both  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  you  did 
exactly  right.  I  thank  you  for  it." 

The  trouble  was  all  over  and  schoolmaster  and 
pupil  became  fast  friends.  When  the  conqueror  of 
the  Dons  came  up  New  York  harbor  in  his  warship, 
Pangborn  pulled  the  lock  of  one  of  the  cannon  of 
Jersey  which  saluted  the  idol  of  the  multitudes. 

It  is  said  that  "  there  is  no  gamekeeper  so  good  as 
the  reformed  poacher."  After  this  "  taking  down" 
as  the  bully  of  the  school  George  became  the  re- 
presspr  of  the  would-be  tyrants  of  the  class-room  and 
playground.  It  is  a  matter  of  record  that,  while  at 
his  school,  he  now  aided  the  cause  of  order  ;  his 
moral  strength  increased  to  vie  with  his  courage  and 
physical  prowess.  Above  all,  he  had  learned  that 
valuable  maxim  :  Tell  the  truth,  though  it  tells 
against  you  ! 

For  some  years  this  pleasant  relation  existed,  and 
who  can  doubt  that  it  was  the  turning-point  for 
the  aspiring  youth  ? 

His  range  of  reading  widened  under  this  tutelage  ; 
and  his  expanding  mind  found  recreation  in  theatri 
cals.  He  had  built  a  miniature  stage  in  the  house, 
and,  with  his  sister  before  mentioned,  acted  the 
nvnor  drama.  The  manager  was  chief  actor,  autho", 
stage-director  and  the  like,  and.  his  solitary  "  str.'.  " 
lady  had  to  play  all  the  female  parts,  often  at  short 
notice. 

One  time,  her  inability  to  learn  her  lines  in  thut 


26  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

"brief  interval  popularly  called  "  less  than  no  time/ 
was  so  glaring  that  she  pleaded  for  a  putting  oil  of 
the  play.  But  Manager  Dewey,  sorry  that  he  could 
not  oblige  but  characteristically  determined  "not  to 
disappoint  the  public,"  assured  her  that  he  had  a 
way  out  of  it.  Whenever  she  was  at  a  loss  for  a 
word — "  stuck,"  in  the  vernacular — he  would  cover 
the  gap. 

Thus  assured,  she  proceeded  with  her  part.  At 
the  first  breakdown,  George  fired  off  a  pistol,  and 
her  stammering  passed  uncriticized  in  the  smoke. 
This  sort  of  piece,  fiery  words  and  mock  thunder, 
might  have  gone  on  for  a  long  run,  but  that  the 
neighbors,  hearing  too  much  of  this  miniature 
Vesuvius,  protested  to  the  head  of  the  household, 
and  the  truly  sensational  drama  was  suppressed. 

The  Thespians  were  reduced  to  parodies  on  the 
circus,  waxworks  and  concerts,  for  the  future. 

But  the  day  soon  came  for  more  serious  business. 
George,  having  profited  by  not  only  the  first  but  the 
after  lessons  of  Mr.  Pangborn  during  several  years, 
was  sent,  in  1851,  to  Northfield,  Vt.,  where  he  was 
to  be  trained  for  entrance  into  West  Point,  at  a 
noted  military  academy  called  the  u  Norwich." 

Here  he  almost  instantly  leaped  into  popularity 
akin  to  that  he  had  enjoyed  at  Montpelier. 

Brimming  with  animal  spirits,  he  was  the  leader 
in  those  diversions  which  beguile  college  tedium, 
and  are  winked  at  by  the  superiors  within  certain 
limits,  as  they  allow  the  release  of  superfluous 
ardor. 

He  became  "  captain"  of  a  company,  and  as  such 
made  a  mark  in  a  noted  "  brush  "with  the  Dart 
mouth  College  students. 

He  was  seventeen  when  he  quitted  the  military 
college,  without  having  taken  a  strong  liking  for 
that  branch  of  the  United  Services,  for  the  other  ex- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  21 

treme  :  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis.  The  pre 
destined  American  Nelson  was  not  to  be  a  Wellington, 
that  was  clear. 

The  trial  for  this  cadetship  lay  between  him  and  a 
gentleman  who  failed  to  pass  the  physical  test  arid 
became  a  minister  in  the  Church,  while  Dewey,  thus 
befriended  by  chance,  entered  the  career  of  which 
he  was  intended  to  be  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments. 


CHAPTER  II. 

IN  PEACE  PREPARE  FOR  WAR. — A  PRICELESS  AU 
TOGRAPH. — IN  "THE  MIDDLE  SEA." — THE  AC 
COMPLISHED  PARROT. — THE  ALARUM  OF  WAR  ! 

ANNAPOLIS  is  the  meet  seat  of  nurture  for  man  to 
be  wedded  to  the  Sea.  On  every  hand,  memorials  of 
one  kind  or  another  remind  of  the  lives  to  be  imi 
tated  of  Paul  Jones,  Preble,  Perry,  Decatur,  and  the 
later  wielders  of  the  cutlass  and  saber.  Models  of 
vessels,  paintings  of  naval  actions,  never  to  be  effaced 
from  history's  tablets,  adorn  the  walls,  and  imple 
ments  of  war,  perhaps  more  or  less  obsolete,  decorate 
the  grounds  where  nervous  candidates  paced,  the 
gward  bare,  while  awaiting  the  decision  making  or 
marring  the  emulator  of  Hull,  Foote  or  Farragnt. 

Dewey  had  no  sooner  set  foot  on  this  sacred  ground, 
where  no  hostile  hand  had  been  raised  since  the 
British  burned  Old  Washington,  than  he  must  have 
felt  that  he  had  acted  rightly  in  choosing  the  mari 
time  branch  of  the  dual  armed  service. 

But  at  this  moment  there  was  more  stir  about 
than  befitted  a  seminary  for  study  of  naval  cipher, 
artillery  signaling  at  sea  and  aquatic  maneuvers. 

Those  ancient  traditions  of  academies  which  favor 


22  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

practical  jokes,  mock  secret  societies,  "hazing," 
horse-play,  and  the  like,  were  still  current.  The 
senior  officers  were  of  the  type  read  of  in  Marryatt's 
and  Cheever's  stories,  and  thought  honestly  that  no 
boy  would  turn  out  fit  for  the  sea  without  a  long 
ordeal  of  rough  sport.  Hard  knocks,  scant  fare, 
harsh  usage — these  were  all  items  in  the  regular  pro 
gram  of  "Jack's  play."  This  has  been  altered,  but 
only  recently.  "  Hazing"  still  lingers,  though  evi 
dently  doomed  to  go  out  with  salt  junk,  rope's- 
endings,  keel-hauling  and  such  barbarities. 

Therefore,  although  young  Dewey  bore  generally 
the  reputation  of  a  quiet,  steady,  amiable,  even  an 
ordinary  cadet,  his  bellicose  temper  was  often  drawn 
upon,  and  several  fights  stand  to  his  account.  Col 
onel  James  Morgan,  a  contemporary,  says  : 

"  In  his  class  in  the  Naval  Academy  Dewey  was 
always  at  the  top  of  everything,  except  his  studies. 
He  was  a  splendid  athlete,  a  boxer  and  a  fencer. 
One  thing  he  hated  like  the  Arch-Enemy  hates  holy 
water  was  a  bully.  Though  far  from  being  quarrel 
some  himself,  he  would  hunt  a  fight  with  any  fellow 
who  attempted  to  impose  upon  his  inferiors  in  phys 
ical  strength.  Any  town  boy  who  developed  a  repu 
tation  as  a  bully  was  sure  to  fall  foul  of  George  Dewey, 
and  to  get  a  licking,  too.  I  don't  think  he  was  ever 
beaten  in  a  fight." 

The  Irrepressible  Conflict  was  then  in  fomenta 
tion.  As  happened  at  the  brother  nursing-place  of 
our  future  heroes — West  Point — Annapolis  had  its 
two  camps,  as  was  the  case  all  over  "  My  Maryland." 
Some  of  the  youths,  feeling  on  sympathetic  ground, 
flaunted  the  cause  of  Secession  constantly  before  the 
other  party,  and  all  those  taunts  which  have  happily 
been  entombed  in  congenial  dust  flew  about  like 
motes  in  the  sun. 

Pewey,  however,  was  not  the  one  to   chafe  at 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  23 

words  ;  it  is  a  trait  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  that,  above 
all  races,  he  can  endure  that  galling  attack  of  pigmy 
darts  called  "chaff,"  or  banter.  The  aim  in  this 
dubious  sport  is  to  say  all  calculated  to  goad  a  wearer 
to  fury,  and  then  calmly  propose  his  shaking  hands 
over  it  and  letting  it  pass  as  mere  fun.  Hence, 
George  heard  with  unruffled  front  such  epithets  as 
"Yankee,"  "dough-face,"  "mudsill,"  etc.  But 
when  it  came  to  booby-traps,  rulers  and  inkstands 
hurled  in  the  dark,  "  apple-pie  "  beds  and  the  rest 
of  the  instruments  of  college  torture,  he  called  a 
halt.  The  result  of  the  sudden  halt  was  that  the 
chief  tormentor  ran  up  against  his  victim's  fist  and 
rose  demoralized. 

A  blow  was  a  fearful  thing  to  the  young  bloods  of 
the  'Sixties  :  the  unavoidable  outcome  among  those 
who  wore  swords,  and  were  exercised  in  the  use  of 
them,  was  a  duel. 

Fortunately  a  cooler  head  let  the  officer  of  the  day 
into  the  current  of  what  was  being  arranged,  and  the 
proposed  encounter  with  small-swords  was  nipped  in 
the  bud. 

Although  not  remarkable  for  his  studies  except  in 
seamanship  and  gunnery,  which  are  not,  by  the 
way,  non-essentials  in  a  naval  officer's  outfit,  Cadet 
George  passed  fifth  in  a  set  of  fourteen,  the  survi 
vors  of  an  original  class  of  sixty-five.  The  gradua 
tion  dates  in  1858. 

The  little  exuberances  of  animal  spirits  were  not 
cot  down  against  him  :  the  professors  know  that  the 
cord  which  binds  too  tightly  snaps  of  itself. 

The  new-fledged  officer  always  retained  a  warm 
memory  of  his  Alma  Mater.  The  University  Club 
building  on  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  is  adorned  on 
the  front  with  marble  medallions  representing  the 
arms  of  the  national  services,  and  one  bears  the 
crest  of  the  Naval  Academy.  The  committee  of  the 


24  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

Annapolis  Alumni  directed  the  chairman,  Com 
mander  — — ,  to  write  to  all  the  past  members  for  con 
tributions,  and,  of  course,  Dewey  was  preeminently 
included.  He  was,  then,  the  Admiral. 

The  commander  wrote,  apprising  him  of  the 
scheme,  and  intimating  that  the  admiral's  assessment 
was  six  dollars  and  some  odd  cents.  The  admiral  sent 
a  letter  by  return  mail  with  his  check  for  ten  dollars 

enclosed.  Commander opened  this  letter  in  the 

smoking-room  of  the  Club  one  evening  and,  as  there 
were  several  Annapolis  men  present,  he  read  it  aloud. 
There  was  the  most  respectful  silence  until  the  reader 
came  to  the  passage:  "I  enclose  my  check  for  ten 
dollars  which,"  etc.,  when  some  one  broke  in  with  : 

"Say,  I'll  give  you  fifty  for  that  check  !" 

"Fifty  nothings  !     I'll  give  you  a  hundred  !  " 

"  Hundred  V  fifty  ! " 

" Two  hundred  ! "  "Three  hundred  !  "  " Four 
hundred!" 

The  commander  put  the  check  in  his  pocket,  as 
an  invaluable  autograph. 

Just  as  the  movements  of  swimming  can  be  learned 
on  the  driest  of  dry  land,  so  may  naval  evolutions  be 
studied  with  a  toy  ship  on  a  table,  for  landsmen 
have  devised  excellent  plans  of  operation  for  fleets 
in  battle;  Napoleon  the  Great,  though  emphatically 
no  lover  of  the  sea,  astonished  the  English  ship 
officers,  when  he  was  conducted  by  them  to  St. 
Helena,  by  solving  the  most  complicated  problems  of 


navigation. 


The  Academy  not  only  equips  the  student  for  his 
profession,  but  smooths  the  way  for  his  putting  the 
learning  into  practise  on  the  high  seas. 

In  consequence,  our  young  disciple  was  placed  on 
Captain  Barren's  flag-ship  in  our  Mediterranean 
squadron,  and  there  sailed  to  and  fro  during  the  years 
1857  and  '58, 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEV-  2$ 

It  was  a  dream  of  the  Yankee  youth,  realized,  and 
yet  in  that  poetical  atmosphere  vision  seemed  jet  to 
behold  a  dream.  But  if  that  "sea  of  blue  "is  the 
theater  of  the  bards,  it  is  also  the  field  of  naval 
battles.  Here  the  living  lighthouse  of  ^Etna  il 
lumined  the  wake  of  the  Roman  galleys  hasting  to 
destroy  Carthage,  just  as,  years  after,  the  purest  of 
moons  and  the  brightest  of  stars  lit  up  the  conflicts 
of  pirates, — sallying  out  of  Tunisian  and  Tripolitau 
ports,  dens  of  the  sea-snakes,  and  true  descendants 
of  Hamilcar  and  Hannibal — with  all  Christendom — 
nay,  all  humankind,  which  their  outrages  had  turned 
against  them.  Severally,  their  pestilent  feluccas 
were  assailed  by  the  French,  the  Spanish,  the  Eng 
lish  and  the  Americans.  Our  young  officer  knew  by 
heart  how  forbears  of  his  classmates  had  figured 
with  Decatur  at  the  singeing  of  the  Dey's  beard  ! 

The  tricolor  of  France  floated  from  Algerian  forts 
now,  but  it  had  taken  centuries  to  avenge  the  defeat 
of  Henry  of  Navarre's  son,  on  yon  yellow  and  glaring 
plains.  Those  blear  and  horizonless  views  inspired 
the  poem  which  is  Dewey's  favorite  : 

"  The  pilgrim  and  stranger,  who  through  the  day 
Holds  over  the  desert  his  trackless  way." 

Here  frowns  the  Keeper  of  ( '  the  Great  Sea  "  of 
Scripture  :  Gibraltar,  the  Impregnable  Fortress 
which,  however,  the  English  took  in  1704,  and  con 
tinue  to  hold,  having  made  it  truly  impregnable  this 
time — a  constant  taunt  in  the  teeth  of  the  Spaniards 
who  lost  it. 

Here,  crossed  the  Crusaders  to  take  Acre,  after 
years  of  siege  and  the  loss  of  300,000  men  ;  there, 
Napoleon's  Army  of  Egypt  was  beaten  by  Sir  Sydney 
Smith  and  his  fancy  of  being  a  Sultan  of  the  Land  of 
the  Sphynx  annihilated  as  by  the  simoom. 

Yonder,  the  Republic  of  Venice  rose  and  fell  ;  at 


26  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

that  spot,  the  Colossus  of  Rhodes  caught  the  dazzling 
morning  sun  over  the  African  desert  and  Jason 
steered  Argo  amid  the  Scyllas  and  Charybdii. 

Upon  those  rocks  waved  the  emblems  of  the 
Knights  of  Malta ;  and  renegades  led  the  Turks  to 
iheir  own  birthplaces  to  rive  away  their  own  re 
nounced  kindred  to  be  slaves  in  the  Dey's  gardens. 

Little  did  the  young  captain  imagine,  however 
high  his  ambition — although  he 

"  Gazed  aloft  upon  the  star  that  heroes  glory  in, 
And  sometimes  deemed  it  not  too  far  for  even  him  to  win!" 

Little  could  he  imagine  that,  one  day,  he  would  sail 
in  his  own  flag-ship  past  these  monuments  and  be  a 
welcome  guest  in  all  the  ports,  saving  the  Spanish  ! 

He  had  also  some  acquaintance  with  another  sea, 
while  on  the  South  American  Station,  where  he  had 
occasion  to  evince  this  presence  of  mind  and  imper- 
turbation. 

Like  a  good  many  ship  captains  whose  grandeur 
compels  them  to  lead  a  life  reserved  from  their 
officers,  his  captain  had  found  companionship  in  a 
parrot  of  great  beauty  and  endearing  ways,  if  it  were 
not  remarkable  as  a  linguist. 

Being  much  worried  about  its  health,  he  asked  the 
ship's  doctor  to  prescribe,  and  the  latter  expressed 
the  opinion  that  all  the  bird  needed  was  a  chance  to 
climb  into  the  green  trees  on  shore,  chew  bark,  and 
disport  itself. 

So  the  captain  summoned  his  steward  and  bade 
him  take  the  parrot  ashore  and  give  it  some  exercise. 
The  captain's  steward  was  an  important  person 
then.  This  one  was  a  conceited  old  darky,  who  aped 
absurdly  the  authoritative  ways  of  his  master,  and 
the  men  were  always  on  the  lookout  for  a  chance  to 
play  him  some  trick.  When  he  stepped  to  the  port 
gangway  to  get  into  the  liberty  boat,  with  the  cage 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  2J 

containing  the  bird  enclosed  in  an  old  ammunition 
bag,  they  saw  their  opportunity.  There  was  a  sea 
running  in  the  harbor,  which  made  it  difficult  for 
the  boat  to  keep  alongside,  and  just  as  the  steward 
put  out  a  foot  toward  the  gunwale,  they  purposely 
cased  her  off,  so  that  he  tumbled  into  the  sea.  He 
was  pulled  out  in  a  minute,  but  the  parrot  and  the 
cage  went  to  the  bottom. 

The  steward  was  distressed.  He  dreaded  punish 
ment  by  the  captain,  who  had  said  that  he  would 
hold  him  responsible  for  the  safety  of  the  bird. 
Having  shore-leave  for  three  days,  he  spent  his  time 
wandering  about  the  city  and  figuring  to  himself 
how  he  would  put  in  the  balance  of  the  voyage  in 
the  ship's  brig,  on  bread  and  water,  double-ironed, 
and  exposed  to  the  derision  of  the  crew.  At  length  he 
was  prompted  by  one  of  his  kind  officers,  to  whom  he 
applied  in  his  quandary,  and  whose  name  need  not 
be  mentioned,  with  a  brilliant  idea. 

Eio  was  full  of  parrots,  and  one  parrot  is  much  like 
another,  especially  green  ones.  He  bought,  for 
seventy-five  cents,'  a  green  bird  with  a  yellow  head 
which  looked  to  him  like  the  twin  brother  of  the  one 
drowned.  He  was  also  lucky  enough  to  find  a  cage 
like  the  lost  one,  and  in  it  took  his  precious  purchase 
back  to  the  frigate. 

Now  (as  Dewey  tells  the  story  ),  the  captain  was 
delighted  to  see  his  pet  once  more,  and  especially  to 
see  how  much  its  plumage  was  improved  and  how 
much  more  sprightly  it  had  become.  But  his 
astonishment  may  be  imagined  when,  being  asked 
whether  it  would  like  a  cracker,  the  bird  responded 
with  a  string  of  Portuguese  profanity.  Being  fed,  it 
expressed  its  satisfaction  with  a  lot  of  ugly  words  in 
Spanish,  and  this  so  amazed  the  commander  that  he 
felt  obliged  to  share  his  feelings  with  somebody. 
Lieutenant  Dewey, who  had  been  walking  the  quarter- 


28  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

deck,  was  summoned  to  the  cabin,  and  the  parrot 
was  persuaded  to  utter  some  more  inelegancies  for 
his  benefit. 

"  Mr.  Dewey/'said  the  captain  excitedly,  "  that  is 
a  most  remarkable  bird.  He  has  been  ashore  only 
three  days,  and  in  that  time,  upon  my  sacred  honor, 
he  has  picked  up  a  thorough  working  knowledge  of 
the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  languages." 

Those  who  remember  the  accomplished  tasks  of 
the  old  school  of  soldiers,  the  Murats,  Keys,  Berua- 
dottes,  Moreaus,  who  were  flung  as  boys  into  the 
whirl  of  the  most  active  warfare,  and  were  captains 
at  twenty,  look  a  little  scoffingly  at  the  elaborate 
preparation  demanded  by  the  modern  profession  of 
arms  :  everything  has  changed,  from  the  tactics  to 
the  weapons.  No  one  now  plans  fighting  at  close 
quarters,  with  G-iitling  guns  and  repeating  rifles  ; 
an  officer  may,  like  "  Chinese  "  Gordon,  have  as 
little  use  for  the  cane  which  he  carries  instead  of  a 
sword,  as  the  steel  itself  ;  the  officer  who  directs 
the  discharge  of  a  gun  carrying  twelve  or  more  miles 
has  no  need  of  the  telescope  which  sufficed  for  a 
Wellington — he  must  be  drilled  in  science  and  use  a 
range-finder. 

So  the  cadet's  technical  and  scientific  apprentice 
ship  was  absolutely  necessary  to  his  future,  as  we 
know.  Havelock  was  over  thirty  years  waiting  for 
his  opportunity  to  become  the  Deliverer  of  the  be 
sieged  British  in  India. 

When  General  Napier  was  Governor  of  Scinde,  he 
wrote  to  a  young  ensign  words  which  should  be 
chiseled  on  a  stone  or  brazen  tablet  on  the  walls  of  a 
military  or  naval  academy  : 

"  By  reading  professional  books  you  will  discover 
what  is  faulty  in  your  corps,  if  faults  there  are  ; 
you  will  then  learn  how  things  ought  to  be,  and  will 
by  daily  observation  see  how  they  are.  Thus  you 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  2Q 

can  form  comparisons  which  will  in  time  teach  you 
your  profession. 

' '  Keep  up  all  knowledge  that  you  have  acquired, 
and  gain  as  much  more  as  you  can.  By  reading  you 
will  be  distinguished  ;  without  it  abilities  are  of  little 
use.  A  man  may  talk  and  write,  but  he  cannot  learn 
his  profession  without  constant  study  to  prepare  ; 
especially  for  the  higher  ranks,  because  there  he 
wants  the  knowledge  and  experience  of  others  im 
proved  by  his  own. 

"  But  when  in  a  post  of  responsibility  he  has  no 
time  to  read,  and  if  he  comes  to  such  a  post  with  an 
empty  skull,  it  is  then  too  late  to  fill  it,  and  he  makes 
no  figure.  Thus  many  people  fail  to  distinguish 
themselves  and  say  they  are  unfortunate,  which  is 
untrue  ;  their  own  previous  idleness  has  unfitted 
them  to  profit  from  fortune. 

"The  smith  who  has  to  look  for  his  hammer  when 
the  iron  is  red  strikes  too  late  ;  the  hammer  should 
be  uplifted  to  fall  like  a  thunderbolt  while  the  white 
heat  is  in  the  metal.  Thus  will  the  forging  prosper/' 

The  blade  was  duly  tempered  :  George  Dewey  was 
made  ready  for  the  loftiest  exploit  of  the  ages. 

In  1860,  in  accordance  with  the  wise  curriculum 
of  our  Naval  Preparatory  School,  Dewey  returned  to 
his  college  to  pass  the  examination  to  show  how  he 
had  profited  not  only  by  his  instruction  there  but  by 
that  even  more  important  one  upon  the  deep.  This 
time  he  was  no  longer  among  "the  four  figures" — • 
he  led  his  compeers.  Taking  into  consideration  his 
previous  rating,  this  triumphant  return  earned  him 
the  rank  of  Passed  Midshipman  and  he  was  posted 
as  Third  in  his  class. 

He  could  take  a  last  stroll  under  the  academical 
groves  with  the  step  of  one  who  had  the  world  as  a 
football  at  his  foot. 

Before  being  called  to  duty — which  seemed  not  to 


30  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

be  onerous,  since  America  was  apparently  profoundly 
submerged  in  peace — he  enjoyed  a  rest  at  the  old 
homestead  in  Vermont. 
But  soon — 

"  The  trumpet's  voice  has  roused  the  land  1 " 


CHAPTER  III. 

ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI. — SHARKS  FOND  OF  THE  NAVY. 
—THE  FIERY  ORDEAL. —GOING  DOWN  BY  HIS 
GUNS.— OFFICIAL  PRAISE. — "  STAND  IN  AND 
WIN  !  " 

SELDOM  had  befallen  an  aspirant  to  the  Bine  Rib 
bon  of  the  Sea  a  finer  opportunity. 

In  the  spring  of  1861  Fort  Suinter  had  been  fired 
upon  by  the  Confederates  massed  at  Charleston,  S.  C., 
and  the  first  cannon-shot  led  the  fusillade  never  ceas 
ing  to  echo  from  the  sea  to  the  Mississippi  and  from 
the  Potomac  to  the  Gulf,  until  the  last ;  that  an 
nouncing  to  a  world  weary  of  slaughter  the  surren 
der  of  General  Lee,  at  Appomattox  Court-house, 
1865. 

However  eagerly  the  youth  of  the  fervid  South 
adopted  the  desperate  endeavor,  the  elder  U.  S.  A. 
and  Navy  officers  withdrew  with  the  deepest  regret 
from  hallowed  comradeships  and  carried  a  pang  at 
the  heart  with  them  when  they  went  to  pledge 
allegiance  to  the  new-born  Stars  and  Bars. 

This  desertion  in  a  body  left  a  huge  gap  in  the 
lists  of  officers,  naval  and  military,  and  opened  it  to 
the  cadets  and  scarcely  "  passed  "  pupils.  To  fill  it 
up,  all  the  budding  Jasons  were  called  to  posts  which 
might  not  have  been  earned  in  twenty  years,  and 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  31 

some  will  recall  with  what  avidity  the  appointments 
were  received. 

Oh,  the  first  pair  of  epaulets — the  first  time  a 
sword-sash  is  girded  on  ! 

Not  more  than  a  week  had  elapsed  after  the  attacK 
of  Sumter  before  George  Dewey,  who  was  already 
entitled  to  the  office  of  "  master/'  a  sort  of  second- 
lieutenancy,  now  canceled,  was  sent,  post-haste,  his 
commission  as  lieutenant,  and  a  berth  was  assigned 
to  him  simultaneously. 

Convenient  to  him,  as  he  was  at  home  on  a  fur 
lough,  in  Boston  Harbor,  was  lying  the  steam  sloop- 
of-war  the  Mississippi — name  of  augury  ! — under 
command  of  Captain  Melancton  Smith. 

That  was  to  be  his  floating  abode  for  a  time,  his 
initiatory  stage  for  nautical  warfare. 

She  sailed  without  delay,  as  soon  as  her  comple 
ment  was  totaled  up — no  one  flinched  from  a  call, 
be  sure  ! — and  was  speedily  in  the  warm  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

There  was  a  little  idleness — if  ever  there  may  be 
idleness  on  a  man-of-war  when  the  captain  is  dili 
gent  !  The  time  was  spent  in  renewing  old  college 
reminiscences,  getting  the  ropes  by  actual  handling, 
and  capping  stories,  mostly  of  the  amusing  blunders 
of  "  raw  "  seamen. 

There  was  always  a  roar  of  laughter  at  the  mistake 
of  the  gunner  from  Cape  Cod,  on  board  the  Bain- 
bridge,  who  was  chasing  a  Confederate  craft  in  the 
night — the  chosen  time  for  blockade-runners  to  pur 
sue  their  vocation.  This  gunner  saw  a  light  and  let 
fly  at  it.  Nothing  came  of  it  and  the  light  disap 
peared — it  might  be  supposed  that  the  shell  had  burst 
in  the  fugitive's  internals  and  sunk  her  forthwith. 
But  an  officer,  acquainted  with  the  locality,  came 
down  from  aloft,  whither  he  had  mounted  with  his 
marine-glass,  and  solemnly  said  : 


32  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

"  We  fired  at  the  Morning  Star  ! " 

"  0  Lucifer — how  hast  thou  fallen  ! "  The  morn 
ing  star,  in  those  latitudes,  appears,  at  rising, 
scarce  a  moment  above  the  waters,  and  then  vanishes 
out  of  sight.  The  derided  artillerist  had  unluckily 
caught  poor  Lucifer  on  the  skip,  but  the  cannon-ball 
had  not  touched  the  orb,  only  some  millions  of  miles 
beyond  the  porthole  ! 

AVhile  they  were  thus  resting  in  Mobile  Bay, 
Dewey  was,  as  the  junior  officer  of  the  watch, 
making  the  acquaintance  of  the  crew,  so  far  as  an 
officer  is  allowed — or,  better  to  say,  encouraged — for 
he  is  loved  best  and  can  lead  his  men  farthest  who 
is  properly  known  to  them.  All  born  leaders  have  had 
the  art  to  be  familiar  without  inspiring  lack  of  respect. 

He  even  chatted  with  that  privileged  ship's  gossip, 
the  "  Doctor,"  otherwise,  the  cook. 

This  was  a  superstitious  old  negro  who  had  a 
morbid  dread  of  sharks,  which  Dewey  argued  would 
never  bite  a  human  being. 

One  day  Dewey  was  sent  ashore  in  the  ship's 
dingey  on  some  trifling  duty.  He  had  on,  as  usual, 
a  frock  coat  with  very  long  tails,  such  as  all  naval 
officers  wore  in  those  days.  In  obedience  to  orders, 
he  hurried  back,  the  sloop  being  on  the  point  of 
getting  under  weigh,  and  as  he  sat  in  the  stern  of 
the  skill,  his  coat  tails  trailed  in  the  water.  Just  as 
the  dingey  was  on  the  point  of  reaching  the 
Mississippi,  a  shark  rose  to  the  surface — perhaps  at 
tracted  by  the  gilt  buttons  on  the  coat  tails  afore 
said — and  bit  off  the  starboard  side  of  the  lieuten 
ant's  after  uniform.  Dewey  jumped  to  his  feet,  and, 
well  satisfied  under  the  circumstances  to  relinquish 
his  coat  tails,  ran  up  the  side  of  the  ship.  The 
"  Doctor,"  who  had  viewed  the  proceedings  from 
the  rail  of  the  vessel,  approached  him  presently  with 
a  grin  of  the  utmost  width. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  53 

"  Ah,  ha  ! "  he  said,  taking  advantage  of  the 
familiarity  customarily  allowed  him  on  board. 
"  Perhaps,  Massa  Dewey,  yo'  believe  now  dat  sharks 
won't  bite  a  pusson.  Whar'  yo?  coat  tail,  eh  ?  " 

"  My  coat  tail,"  replied  the  lieutenant,  with  his 
hab'^al  coolness,  "has  been  removed  by  an  act  of 
P  /idence." 

At  the  opening  of  1862,  the  ships  of  the  West  Gulf 
Blockading  Squadron  assembled  around  the  flag-ship, 
the  Hartford,  on  which  Captain  David  Glasgow 
Farragut  had  raised  his  flag.  The  "Father  of 
Waters"  was  the  stronghold  of  the  Confederacy  of 
revolted  states. 

Having  no  sea-going  fleet  and  no  means  of  raising 
one,  since  the  European  powers  could  not  sell  with 
out  recognizing  the  Rebellion,  a  measure  from  which 
they  wisely  shrank  without  tempting  such  a  lesson 
of  warning  as  was  given  France  anent  Mexico,  the 
Confederate  States  placed  all  reliance  and  hope  on 
•^  the  Backbone  of  the  Rebellion,"  the  mighty  river 
which,  fortified  and  always  open  to  navigation,  pre 
vented  the  most  successful  land-general  from  ex 
pecting  to  win  unless  he  could  control  it,  not  merely 
at  its  mouth  but  throughout  its  vast  extent. 

Nevertheless,  to  take  the  Delta  at  New  Orleans 
required  the  capture  of  forts,  much  more  formidable 
than  those  which  General  Jackson  had  directed  when 
repulsing  the  British,  and  the  river  would  have  to 
be  cleared  of  earthworks,  flotillas,  fireships  and 
other  obstacles  all  the  way  to  Vicksburg,  where  the 
Union  army  was  to  be  found  awaiting  the  naval 
cooperation. 

The  American  fleet  sailed  in  January,  but  it  waa 
not  until  April,  1862,  that  the  movement  was  made 
against  the  "  Crescent  City." 

In  the  meantime,  the  ships  were  kept  active,— 
large  and  small.  There  were  expeditions  in  several 
3 


34  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

directions,  destroying  munitions,,  victuals  and  sup 
plies  for  the  city  ;  petty  batteries  along  shore  were 
leveled,  batteries  on  the  bluffs  were  shelled,  the  sugar 
and  molasses  factories  were  burnt  and  stores  dumped 
into  the  river  ;  and  turpentine  and  tar  heaped 
into  gorgeous  bonfires  lest  the  enemy  used  them  for 
infernal  machines  ;  one  in  particular  being  a  fire-raft 
• — an  engine  to  which  the  Greek  fire-ships  and  the 
Chinese  explosive  junks  were  simple  annoyances. 

All  this  added  to  Dewey's  experience  and  he  was 
ready  as  his  shipmates  when  the  order  to  advance 
was  spread  to  the  wind. 

There  was  newness  in  the  vessels  to  attack — gun 
boats  had  been  invented  by  the  English  to  operate 
against  Cronstadt  in  the  Crimean  War,  and  those 
which  Constructor  Eads  launched  might  be  con 
sidered  experimental  ;  the  Confederates  had  quickly 
borrowed  the  pattern.  This  year,  1862,  saw  also 
the  noteworthy  innovation  of  the  floating,  iron- 
shielded  battery,  of  the  Merrimac  type,  as  well  as  its 
conqueror,  the  still  more  novel  Monitor.  The  French 
had  inaugurated  these  modern  improvements  on  the 
ancient  galleys,  along  whose  sides,  it  will  be  seen, 
the  warriors  used  to  fasten  their  bucklers  to  clothe 
them  with  metal  and  leather  against  projectiles  of 
their  period. 

Farragut's  plan  was  to  run  by  the  forts  in  the 
dark  ;  but  the  enemy,  by  means  of  fires  on  the  banks 
and  rafts  blazing  with  combustibles  upon  the  muddy 
waters,  prevented  any  such  surprise.  It  was,  there 
fore,  compulsory  to  silence  the  forts  of  Chalmette, 
St.  Philip  and  Jackson,  these  being  about  thirty 
miles  above  the  heads  of  the  passes. 

It  was  early  in  the  morning,  though,  when  the 
vessels  got  underway  to  run  the  fiery  gauntlet.  The 
Hartford,  leading  the  second  division,  opened  her 
bow  guns  on  Fort  Jackson,  receiving  a  heavy  fire 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  35 

from  both  forts.  In  attempting  to  avoid  a  fire-raft 
she  grounded  on  a  shoal  near  St.  Philip,  and  at  the 
sume  time  the  rebel  ram  Manasses  pushed  a  blazing 
raft  upon  her  port  quarter,  setting  her  on  fire.  The 
Manasses  was  named  after  a  battlefield  of  the  early 
stage  of  the  War,  which  the  Confederates  esteemed 
their  victory.  While  she  backed  into  deep  water  her 
crew  subdued  the  flames,  her  guns,  meanwhile,  pour 
ing  a  steady  fire  into  the  enemy. 

"There  we  were,  my  lad, 
All  afire  on  our  port  quarter  ! 
Hammocks  ablaze  in  the  netting, 
Flames  spouting  in  at  every  port — 
Our  fourth  cutter  burning  at  the  davit 
(No  chance  to  lower  away  and  save  it), 
In  a  twinkling  the  flames  had  risen 
Half  way  to  maintop  and  mizzen, 
Darting  up  the  shrouds  like  snakes  1 
Ah,  how  we  clanked  at  the  brakes, 
And  the  deep  steam  pump  throbbed  under, 
Sending  a  ceaseless  flow." 

With  difficulty  the  Hartford  turned  against  the 
current  and  continued  on  her  way  up  the  river,  fir 
ing  into  the  enemy's  vessels  as  she  passed.  Among 
them  was  a  "  boarder  "  making  straight  for  the  flag. 
A  shell  from  the  Hartford  exploded  in  her  and  she 
disappeared. 

The  Mississippi  and  the  Monongdhela  had  similar 
experiences. 

Before  daylight  the  victory  was  complete  ;  and  the 
fleet,  after  reducing  the  Chalmette  batteries  three 
miles  below  New  Orleans,  proceeded  directly  to  that 
city,  whence  the  Confederate  forces  had  already  taken 
flight. 

During  the  weeks  immediately  succeeding  the 
capture  of  New  Orleans  the  Mississippi  resumed  its 
efforts,  with  the  other  smaller  craft,  "  to  clear  the 


36  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

The  minor  obstacles  being  swept  away,  the  next 
series  of  difficulties  was  to  be  encountered. 

It  took  three  days  to  beat  down  these  barriers  ;  it 
was  on  the  23d  that  the  vessels  could  have  a  breath 
ing-spell  after  this  plunge  into  the  furnace  where 
wooden  walls  were  consumed  like  wool  and  iron 
melted  like  lead  in  the  smelting-pot. 

Farragut  had  resolved  to  charge  the  next  obstacle. 
It  was  a  time  to  "  strike  or  be  struck/'  as  the  Great 
Napoleon  said  of  a  like  situation. 

This  was  Port  Hudson,  which,  captured,  would 
enable  the  American  fleet  to  shut  up  the  important 
Red  River ;  but  not  only  were  the  preparations  for 
repelling  attacks  admitted  to  be  gigantic,  but  the 
hindrances  to  navigation,  as  readers  of  Mississippi 
pilot-lore  will  be  sure,  were  enormous  and  ter 
rible. 

On  March  the  14th,  1863,  the  fleet  gathered  like 
war-birds,  around  the  chief  eagle,  for  Dewey's  second 
big  battle. 

At  dusk  all  was  deep  darkness  save  for  a  red  lan 
tern  at  the  stern  of  the  Hartford  signifying  the  ad 
vance  into  battle. 

It  was  very  calm. 

The  vessels  moved  slowly  but  steadily,  and  on  the 
rebel  lookouts  sighting  the  long  phantom-like  line, 
they  sent  up  a  rocket  or  two,  and  immediately  the 
shore  batteries  began  firing  at  the  flag-ship.  Tiiis 
was  an  hour  before  midnight.  At  first  the  ship- 
gunners  had  to  take  aim  at  the  flashes  of  the  shore 
guns  which  were  hidden  by  the  earthworks,  but  the 
smoke  began  to  thicken  in  the  stagnant  air.  Then 
this  close  vapor  was  split  and  streaked  as  the  13-inch 
shells  whirled  through  magnificent  showers  of  their 
own  sparks,  and  bonfires  sprang  into  splendor  along 
the  grand  waterway  !  Never  since  the  great  earth 
quake  early  in  the  century  had  these  forests  and 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  $7 

bluffs  echoed  to  such  a  crash  as  when  the  larger 
vessels  delivered  a  broadside. 

After  having  been  under  fire  over  an  hour,  the 
leader  ran  ahead  and  anchored  up-stream  beyond 
range,  having  lost  little  in  men  but  being  seriously 
damaged.  Those  of  her  escort  able  to  get  away 
dropped  down  the  river  to  recuperate. 

Dewey's  ship  was  not  among  the  fortunate. 

At  half-after  eleven,  in  the  fog,  smoke  and  gloom, 
the  general  attack  being  in  full  force,  the  Essex 
dropped  down  the  river,  and  being  taken  for  hostile 
bv  the  Mississippi,  would  have  been  demolished  by 
her  broadside,  but  it  was  withheld  by  a  miracle  of 
instinct  rather  than  actual  perception.  The  Mis 
sissippi,  as  third  in  the  order  of  battle,  was  to  keep 
touch,  so  to  say,  with  the  MonongaJiela,  which  was 
shrouded  in  the  obscurity.  So  Dewey's  ship  was 
going  ahead  fast,  arriving  at  the  heaviest  and  fiercest 
of  the  shore  works,  when  she  touched  bottom  and 
heeled  over  markedly. 

This  was  just  between  midnight  and  the  first 
hour. 

The  guns  and  weights  were  shifted,  and  steam 
was  put  on,  but  she  was  for  the  time  inextricably 
caught  by  that  treacherous  and  tenacious  mud 
making  the  Mississippi  a  very  graveyard  of  vessels. 
All  hope  of  salvage  being  lost,  the  commander  ordered 
those  things  to  be  done  which  comprise  the  hist 
measures  on  abandoning  a  ship  in  the  enemy's  teeth. 
The  pivot-gun  was  rolled  over  the  side  ;  the  others 
were  spiked.  The  munitions  at  hand  and  the  small 
arms  were  thrown  into  the  mud. 

At  the  same  time,  the  enemy  obtained  the  range 
and  directed  the  cross-fires  of  three  batteries  at  the 
disabled  and  dismantled  sloop.  Under  this  shower 
the  sick  and  wounded  were  lowered  into  the  boats. 

Dewey  had  stood  with  his  men  to  his  own  gun 


38  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

until  the  water  was  up  to  the  muzzle,  firing  the  last 
shot — the  last  retort  of  the  defeated  war-dog — 
through  the  porthole  by  which  he  had  to  make  his 
escape. 

He  and  his  captain,  Smith,  are  stated  to  have  been 
the  two  coolest  spirits  on  the  wreck.  On  his  way  to 
the  boats  containing  the  invalided  and  non-combat 
ants,  Dewey  saved  the  life  of  a  shipmate,  drowning. 

It  was  this  exploit  which  caused  one  of  the  eye 
witnesses,  or  nearly  so,  of  the  conflict,  to  say  : 

"  Dewey  was  always  a  hero.  We  of  the  old  Con 
federacy  knew  it  long  ago."  And  he  had  but  to 
recite  the  above  deed  to  find  he  was  agreed  with. 

The  boats,  with  their  loads,  started  for  the  fleet, 
which  had  anchored  down  the  river  by  this  time. 
The  captain  had  not  joined  them  until  assured  that 
fire,  applied  to  the  doomed  hull  at  three  or  four 
places,  would  probably  make  a  complete  ruin. 
They  had  been  fired  upon  on  the  way  up  by  rifles 
and  muskets  from  the  banks,  so  that  they  had  no 
pleasant  prospect. 

Still  in  doubt  whether  this  mournful  duty  was 
accurately  accomplished,  the  chief  officer  asked  the 
question  of  his  lieutenant  whether  "  She  will  burn  ?" 
and  the  other  had  returned  within  to  make  certain. 
The  fire  did  not  go  out ;  on  the  contrary,  when, 
lightened  by  the  removal  of  her  guns  and  top-hamper, 
she  slid  out  of  the  bank,  the  poor  sloop  drifted  down 
stream,  midway  in  the  morning,  and  finally  blew  up 
in  another  hour  or  two. 

The  survivors  of  the  catastrophe  had  been  taken 
aboard  the  Richmond. 

The  official  report  praises  the  coolness  of  Lieu 
tenant  Dewey. 

He  was  transferred  to  the  Colorado,  and  several 
months  passed  in  patrolling  the  river  as  far  as  won 
to  the  Old  Flag.  This  fatigue  duty  lasted  up  to  the 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  39 

reduction  of  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  by  the 
united  energies  of  the  fleet  and  the  army,  the  out 
come  of  repeated  conferences  between  General  Grant 
and  the  naval  chiefs. 

A  first  attack  on  Fort  Fisher  had  come  to  grief, 
it  being  alleged  that  the  land  forces  had  failed  to 
cooperate  advantageously  with  the  naval  one  ;  be 
this  true  or  erroneous,  things  went  differently  in  a 
second  attempt,  and  a  last,  the  third. 

Admiral  Porter  commanded  the  water  forces  on 
this  effort,  Farragut  having  gone  home  to  recruit 
and  refit  the  Hartford,  which  required  extensive  re 
pairs  after  the  peppering  received  in  her  ascent  of 
the  Mississippi. 

The  large  number  of  land  troops  having  been  put 
on  shore  and  in  position,  on  the  15th  of  January, 
the  fleet  attacked  in  three  lines.  As  the  conflict 
was  drawing  to  a  close,  Commodore  Thatcher,  of  the 
Colorado,  was  signaled  to  stand  in  and  silence  a 
part  of  the  defenses,  which  was  a  veritable  hornets' 
nest.  The  vessel  mentioned  had  been  hit  more  than 
once  from  this  quarter,  and  Dewey,  anticipating  the 
order,  from  its  necessity,  had  fore-arranged  the 
movements  to  sail  in  under  the  very  guns. 

He  had  said  to  his  superior,  "  We  shall  be  safer 
in  there,  and  those  works  will  be  taken,  then,  in 
fifteen  minutes." 

The  signal  to  go  in  came,  therefore,  to  straining 
hounds,  and  the  young  officer's  conjecture  proved 
correct. 

When  Admiral  Porter  was  congratulating  Thatcher 
on  the  promptness  with  which  this  critical  order  had 
been  carried  out — for  it  let  the  land  contingency 
enter  the  lines  and  begin  the  victory — tho  worthy 
commodore  said,  with  the  generosity  of  a  mariner  : 

"  You  must  thank  Lieutenant  Dewey,  sir.  for  bo 
had  suggested  your  own  stroke" 


40  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

He  went  farther  and  recommended  Dewey  for  pro 
motion  outgoing  to  Mobile  Bay,  where,  as  acting  rear- 
admiral,  he  relieved  Farragut,  after  the  brilliant 
achievement  of  the  Battle  of  Mobile. 

There  was  little  now  of  naval  note  :  Sherman 
marched  triumphantly  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah  ; 
Grant  advanced  and  took  Richmond  :  with  the  cap 
ture  of  Jefferson  Davis,  head  of  the  collapsed  Con 
federacy,  the  Internecine  Strife  ended  in  1865. 

In  March  of  this  year,  Dewey  was  promoted  to  be 
lieutenant-commander,  and  went  aboard  the  sloop- 
of-war  Kearsage,  famous  for  sinking  the  notorious 
Confederate  cruiser  Alabama  off  Cherbourg,  in  the 
previous  year.  She  was  lost  on  a  reef  in  the  Carrib- 
bean  seas,  and  it  is  a  new  vessel  which  carries  her 
inextinguishable  name. 

After  doing  duty  subsequently  on  the  flag-ship 
Colorado,  Dewey  came  home,  placed  for  repose,  well- 
merited,  at  the  Portsmouth  Navy  Yard,  N.  H, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

COUKTSHIP  A1TD  MARRIAGE. — THE  CAPTAINCY. — 
KINDLY  ACT  TO  A  BOY.— A  STROKE  OF  NAUTICAL 
•VIT.— COMMODORE  AT  SIXTY. — THE  FAREWELL.-^ 
A  FORECAST. 

THE  belle  of  Portsmouth  was  Miss  Susie  Goodwin. 
She  was  daughter  of  a  native  of  the  place  who  had 
risen  to  the  first  post  in  the  gift  of  the  people  of  the 
State.  Her  father  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  "  War 
Governors,"  and  characteristically  bore  the  cogno 
men  of  "  Fighting  Goodwin." 

The  pretty  damsel  was  the  object  of  several  suitors, 
but  the  contest  centered  upon  our  Uero  and  an 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  4! 

officer,  then  Commander  S.  C.  Rhind,  distinguished 
in  the  late  war  by  his  sailing  the  fire-ship  Louisiana 
up  to  the  very  walls  of  Fort  Fisher — a  deed  paralleled 
only  by  the  young  officer's  who  steered  the  bomb 
proof  battery  under  Algiers  fortalice,  or,  to  come  to 
later  feats,  Cushing's  attack  on  the  Albemarle  and 
Hobson's  sinking  of  the  hulk  in  Santiago  Bay. 

Nevertheless,  youth  carried  the  day,  and  Dewey 
and  Miss  Goodwin  were  married  in  October,  1867. 

He  was  sent  to  preside  over  a  department  at  his 
own  Alma  Mater,  at  Annapolis. 

Longing  for  the  sea  coming  again,  he  was  put  in 
command  of  the  Narragansett  in  1869,  with  the 
right,  after  a  certain  date,  to  be  entitled  com 
mander. 

In  1872,  his  dearest  wish  was  gratified  in  his  be 
coming  a  father.  His  son  was  named  George  after 
himself  and  Goodwin  after  his  wife's  father.  This 
dear  wish  was  accompanied  by  the  greatest  grief  of 
his  life — as  if  we  were  always  to  be  tendered,  in  a 
double  cup,  bitters  and  honey  ! 

Mrs.  Dewey  died  that  same  year. 

The  bereaved  husband  remained  on  land  for  a 
period,  being  a  lighthouse  inspector  in  1876.  Later, 
he  became  secretary  of  the  Lighthouse  Board. 

In  truth,  he  was  one  of  those  men  armed  at  all 
points  whom  the  Government  appreciated  so  far  as 
to  keep  them  constantly  in  harness.  At  all  events, 
the  blade  was  not  allowed  to  rust,  though  it  might 
chafe  in  its  scabbard,  while  the  hand  which  should 
have  wielded  it  was  plying  the  goosequill. 

"While  in  the  Naval  Bureau,  Dewey  had  frequent 
opportunities  to  display  that  courtesy  for  which  he 
was  noted,  perhaps  because  it  is  at  some  diver 
gence  from  the  bearish  manners  of  too  many  bureau- 
tocrata. 

A  man  tells  the  story  whose  lather  was  in  position 


42  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

at  Washington.  One  day,  inquisitive  as  youth  are, 
he  inquired  of  his  father,  whom  he  deemed,  as  boys 
will  suppose  of  their  progenitors,  a  fount  of  intelli 
gence,  why  some  light  boats  were  called  "  cat "- 
boats. 

Was  there  any  sense  to  it  or  might  they  not  as 
well  be  styled  "dog "-boats  ?  The  person  pestered 
did  not  try  to  explain.  He  pointed  to  a  gentleman 
whom  the  two  had  often  crossed  in  their  paths  and 
said  : 

"  If  you  will  put  your  puzzle  to  that  gentleman, 
he  will  give  you  all  possible  information,  as  he  is 
head  of  the  Naval  Construction  Bureau,  I  believe." 

The  boy  in  perfect  faith  betook  himself  to  the 
stranger,  who  received  him  kindly,  though  roused 
from  a  brown  study,  but  hesitated  "as  if,  in  his  turn, 
he,  too,  was  "graveled."  But  recovering,  if  the 
problem  took  him  aback,  to  use  a  nautical  phrase, 
he  asked  the  questioner's  name  and  address,  and 
»*esumed  his  stroll. 

A  few  days  afterward,  when  the  boy  thought  no 
more  about  the  matter,  insignificant  after  all  to  hinij 
he  received  a  portentous  missive,  under  the  XavaV 
Bureau  frank  and  seal,  directed  to  him  as  if  he  were 
a  "grown-up." 

Opening  it  in  some  trepidation,  he  found  it  an 
exhaustive  reply  to  his  query.  It  appears  that,  in 
all  maritime  countries,  from  time  out  of  mind,  a 
certain  class  of  light  craft  have  been  named  "  cat  "- 
boats,  in  allusion  to  their  swiftness,  alertness  and 
speed,  which  observers  chose  to  liken  to  the  traits  of 
the  feline  race.  In  the  same  way,  fleet  boats  are 
called  flies  or  mosquitoes. 

In  1882,  returning  to  his  vocation,  Dewey  com 
manded  the  Juniata  in  the  Asiatic  Squadron,  a  fore 
taste  of  the  atmosphere  which  he  was  for  a  time  to 
inhale,  more  or  less  intermingled  with  burnt  powder. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  43 

In  1884,  he  was  appointed  full  captain,  a  rank 
which  is  equivalent  to  a  colonel's  in  the  army.  As 
such,,  he  commanded  the  Dolphin,  one  of  the  well- 
remembered  "White  Squadron/'  Our  vessels  were 
not  alone  in  adopting  this  hue,  gay  to  us  but  con 
sidered  mourning  by  those  contrary  folk  the  Chinese 
— for  the  British  troop-ships  intended  for  Asiatic 
voyages  are  also  painted  to  resemble  snow-birds. 

In  his  new  position,  as  heretofore,  Dewey  was  the 
idol  of  his  crew  as  well  as  beloved  of  his  compeers. 
Even  when  his  wit  was  justified,  it  had  an  amusing 
not  caustic  sharpness. 

In  1885,  when  commanding  the  Pensacola  in  the 
Mediterranean,  she  being  the  flag-ship,  a  shift  of 
wind,  accompanied  by  a  rapid  fall  of  the  barometer, 
gave  warning  of  changing  weather.  Presently  a 
white  squall  came  up,  and  there  was  busy  work  for 
all  hands,  the  executive  officer  in  the  waist,  the  offi 
cer  of  the  deck  on  the  quarterdeck,  and  the  midship 
man  in  the  forecastle  bellowing  and  repeating  orders, 
while  the  sailors  jumped  through  the  tops  like  mon 
keys.  Just  then  something  fouled  the  clews  of  the 
maintopsail,  at  the  very  moment  the  squall  struck, 
and  bungling  for  a  moment  or  two  nearly  cost  the 
vessel  a  spar.  Dewey,  from  the  bridge,  was  looking 
on,  and  everybody  was  in  tremulous  anticipation  of 
a  severe  rebuke.  "  But  he  only  turned  to  the  officer 
of  the  deck  and  said  mildly  : 

"  Will  you  kindly  tell  me  what  was  the  matter  just 
now  with  the  agricultural  population  on  the  main- 
topsail  yard  ?" 

If  there  be  one  epithet  more  than  another  at  which 
the  jacky  feels  his  nerves  quiver,  it  is  to  that  liken 
ing  him  to  a  farmer.  At  the  same  time,  odd  though 
it  may  appear,  yet  the  figures  prove  it  the  most 
valuable  element  in  our  whaling  fleets,  to  say  noth 
ing  of  our  navy,  in  time  of  war,  has  been  the  New 


44  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

Englanders  who  came  from  away-back  in  the  woods 
and  up  the  mountains. 

This  remark  percolated  through  the  midshipmen 
to  the  crew,  and,  being  duly  translated,  it  produced 
an  effect  from  which  the  men  did  not  recover  for 
days. 

Again  on  shore  duty,  our  subject  was  chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Equipment  and  Recruiting,  with  the  rank 
of  commodore,  being  commissioned  in  1896. 

Perhaps  not  one  who  ought  to  be  in  the  current 
even  had  a  clear  idea  of  what  trouble  was  impend 
ing  and  where  it  would  lift  its  horrific  head,  but 
there  was  more  than  human  in  the  hand  which  in 
dicated  him  to  be  head  of  the  Asiatic  Squadron  in 
January,  1898.  He  had  applied  for  sea-going  duty 
in  the  previous  year. 

It  cannot  be  defined  who  in  particular  had  the 
utmost  to  do  with  this  important  appointment.  Mr. 
(Governor)  Theodore  Roosevelt,  at  the  time  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  his  chief  himself,  Mr.  Long, 
and  Capt.  Crowninshield,  as  head  of  the  Navigation 
Bureau,  all  three  insist  that  they  foresaw  the  right 
man  for  the  right  place. 

If  the  whole  truth  were  known,  however  unas 
suming  may  be  a  man  of  worth,  something  like  tho 
divine  afflatus  surrounds  him  and  denounces  him  to 
the  chosen  few  ;  Barras  thought  he  was  selecting  a 
mere  warming-pan  in  office  by  appointing  young 
Bonaparte  chief  of  an  army  ;  Lincoln  was  chosen  as 
a  Presidential  candidate  because  others,  estimated 
immeasurably  his  superiors,  were  unavailable  for  the 
office  ;  Grant  the  Taciturn  was  no  such  popular 
favorite  as  McClellan  ;  and  many  a  conqueror  of  an 
empire  was  supplied  with  ships  in  order  to  be  rid 
of  their  importunities  and  not  because  their  projects 
were  credited. 

During  his  years  of  peace  on  shore   and  on  the 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  45 

quiet  of  the  ocean,  Dewey  had  "  gained  many  friends 
and  admirers  by  his  evident  ability,  his  modest  firm 
ness  of  character,  his  kindly  courtesy,  and  his  wide 
range  of  interest." 

The  writer,  without  knowing  it,  touched  the  main 
and  distinguishing  point  when  he  emphasized 
Dewey 's  wide-range  :  as  Dr.  Johnson  sapiently  says  : 
'•'  Experience  is  perpetually  contradicting  theories." 
An  artillerist — and  remember,  Napoleon  the  Great 
was  a  perfect  artillerist  as  Dewey  was  preeminent  in 
naval  gunnery — moves  upon  stepping-stones,  facts 
and  truths,  which  never  swerve  under  the  foot  and 
mast  lead  to  the  pedestal  of  this  great  monument. 
The  variety  of  Dewey *s  occupations,  confusing  to  a 
meager  intellect,  denoted  his  reach  and  aim:  "A 
successful  man,  to  live  as  he  should,  must  undertake 
more  than  he  can  perform." 

It  was  logical  to  expect  that  it  would  be  a  choice 
band,  not  merely  of  his  brother  officers,  but  military 
men,  and  one  or  two  notable  in  other  circles  where 
the  country  is  served,  which  encircled  him  on  a 
night  when  he  was  to  be  toasted  on  his  proud  position 
and  bidden  God-speed  ! 

There  was  no  formality,  but  just  friendliness  and 
well-wishing,  around  the  true  gentleman,  who,  in 
twenty  years,  none  had  ever  heard  to  grumble  at  be 
ing  unrecognized,  to  swear  or  to  brag. 

An  impromptu  poetical  address  which  has  been 
often  quoted  was  read  by  Colonel  Archibald  Hopkins. 

"  Fill  all  your  glasses  full  to-night ; 

The  wind  is  off  the  shore  ; 
And  be  it  feast  or  be  it  fight, 
We  pledge  the  Commodore. 

'*  Through  days  of  storm,  through  days  of  calm. 

On  broad*  Pacific  seas  ; 
At  anchor  off  the  isles  of  palm, 
Or  with  the  Japanese, 


46  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

"  Ashore,  afloat,  on  deck,  below, 

Or  where  our  bulldogs  roar, 

To  back  a  friend  or  breast  a  foe 

We  pledge  the  Commodore. 

"  We  know  our  honor'll  be  sustained 

Where'er  his  pennant  flies  ; 
Our  rights  respected  and  maintained, 
Whatever  power  defies." 

More  gravely  prophetic  and  sublime  in  its  confi 
dence  were  the  words  of  an  old  naval  comrade,  uttered 
previous  to  the  illustrious  events  which  eventuated 
under  the  Commodore's  flag  : 

"  Dewey  will  take  good  care  of  his  fleet  and  will 
make  the  most  effective  use  of  it.  lie  is  sagacious 
and  far-sighted,  as  well  as  fearless  and  brave.  The 
Spaniards  are  not  likely  to  catch  him  napping. 
There  is  no  officer  of  the  United  States  ISTavy  who 
could  lead  a  fleet  into  battle  with  greater  certainty 
of  victory  than  Commodore  Dewey.  He  enjoys  one 
great  advantage  as  a  commander  in  having  the  im 
plicit  confidence  of  his  subordinates.  Every  man 
who  knows  Dewey  would  follow  confidently  wherever 
he  might  lead." 


CHAPTER  V. 

OUR  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. — CUBAN  FILIBUSTERS. — OUR 
CONSUL  IN  PERIL. — THE  "  MAINE  "  OUTRAGE.— 
THE  CUBAN  CAMPAIGN.  —  "  DELENDA  EST— 
CERVERA  !  " 

CLEARLY  to  understand  the  situation,  it  is  impera 
tive  to  review  our  dealings  with  Spain.  That  crowned 
Croesus  of  nations  had  become  a  beggar  among  the 
realms  of  Europe.  One  by  one — sometimes,  in  a 
flock,  she  had  lost  those  gaudy  nestlings,  her  col- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  47 

onies,  Pern,  Mexico,  The  Golden  Americas,  on  which, 
like  the  cormorant,  not  the  pelican,  she  had  fed. 

Some  had  become  republics,  more  or  less  in  our 
image  ;  others,  like  Florida,  had  been  sold  lest  an 
enemy  should  seize  them.  In  the  middle  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  theWest  Indies  were  about  all  she  had 
left,  and  it  was  positive  that  "  the  brightest  gem  in 
the  Spanish  Crown,"  that  is,  Cuba,  would  not  long 
be  her  subject,  or  would  be  a  land  of  desolation. 

Travelers  came  away  from  that  sea  of  sunshine 
and  flowers  more  saddened  than  after  gazing  into  an 
extinct  volcano  :  official  robbery  was  making  a  desert 
there. 

Time  and  again,  natives  who  had  never  despaired 
of  Cuban  future,  though  they  were  all  but  alone  in 
such  flights,  tried  to  excite  the  "  Ever-faithful  Isle  " 

rinst  the  oppressor.  Sympathizers  with  the  cause 
this  new  Lone  Star  Republic  commenced  to  be 
numerous  in  the  United  States  ;  the  fugitives,  after 
each  suppressed  revolt,  dwelt  in  our  ports  and  had 
their  sons  educated  here,  where  the  pines  or  the  oaks, 
of  Maine  or  the  Carolinas,  breathe  out  freedom. 

In  1851,  there  was  a  deep  thrill  on  the  seaboard 
at  the  execution  of  certain  rebels,  called  "  filibusters/' 
from  a  Spanish  word  signifying  freebooter,  derived 
from  those  gentry  using  swift  craft,  or  "  fly-boats." 

The  attempts  to  land  arms  and  men,  some  of  the 
latter  being  Americans,  continued  for  twenty  years, 
with  the  stereotyped  result  of  the  supplies  reviving 
the  spirits  of  the  "men  on  the  mountain," or  being 
captured  and  the  bearers  of  the  torch  of  Liberty 
murdered,  by  slow  torture  in  squalid  prisons  or  broken 
by  the  garotte. 

In  1873,  occurred  a  more  remarkable  act.  The 
American  steamer  Virginius  was  seized  while  landing 
reinforcements  for  the  insurrection,  and  a  hundred  of 
the  crew  were  put  to  death.  This  was  under  Presi- 


48  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

dent-and-General  Grant's  administration.  Popular 
indignation  rose  almost  to  overflowing,  and  the  least 
imprudence  would  have  precipitated  the  war  against 
Spain  of  our  era. 

This  breach  was  patched  up,  but  the  chasm  prom 
ised,  when  it  reopened,  to  swallow  up  the  Spanish 
scepter  in  the  New  World,  sick  of  these  repetitions 
of  the  regime  of  Alva  and  the  Inquisition. 

"Everything  comes  to  the  man  who  waits  for  the 
river  to  bring  him  his  wishes" — when  that  river  is 
All-Time  and  his  wishes  are  based  on  human  welfare. 

In  spite  of  the  restrictions  which  the  Old  Country 
imposed  on  Cuban  trade,  especially  against  the  hated 
Yankee,  trade  had  increased  yearly  with  the  nearest 
neighbor.  Americans,  bewitched  by  the  fertility  of 
Cuba,  had  invested  their  money  profusely  if  prema 
turely  in  not  only  the  plantations,  but  factories  and 
warehouses.  The  property  interests  of  our  citizens 
had  become  considerable,  although  much  of  it  was 
prudently  masked  under  foreign  names. 

As  the  man  said,  after  wincing  at  a  sermon  which 
"  named  no  names  "  :  "It  is  hard  to  preach  without 
hitting  me  somewheres,"  so,  wherever  the  Spanish 
soldier,  trained  since  the  fifteenth  century  to  "  live 
on  the  country  " — enemy's  or  ally's  alike — fired  a  field 
of  cane  or  tobacco  or  a  storehouse,  American  property 
was  sure  to  be  injured.  Then  again,  to  what  the  regu 
lar  spared,  the  insurgent  applied  the  torch.  The  for 
eigner  in  Cuba  was  a  sheep  shorn  on  both  sides.  The 
claims  of  despoiled  American  citizens  owning  de 
stroyed  or  damaged  properties  and  business  in  the  ill- 
fated  island  amounted,  as  filed  at  our  Foreign  De 
partment,  to  ten  millions  of  dollars.  This  sum  is 
twice  what  Spain  charged  for  the  ceding  of  Florida 
to  us. 

But  the  United  States  might  hesitate  to  press  the 
Lazarus  of  Europe — it  was  bankrupt.  The  quota- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  49 

tion  of  its  funds  on  the  Exchanges  was  a  farce.  In 
such  a  depth,  meekness  would  have  become  it,  but 
the  Don  was  impudent  as  in  his  proudest  days,  and 
nothing  is  more  exasperating  than  a  saucy  debtor. 

Thereupon,  it  began  to  be  whispered  in  Europe 
that  the  United  States  would  let  out  no  more  tether, 
and  might  bring  up  the  Bad  Example  with  a  round 
turn — might  even  use  the  rope  for  a  lashing. 

On  the  Island  of  Cuba,  for  the  first  time,  merchants 
secretly  opened  their  purse  to  the  insurgents,  on  the 
plea  that  the  sooner  matters  came  to  a  head  the  bet 
ter,  as  the  United  States  were  fated  to  intervene,  take 
up  the  wrested  scepter  and  govern  as  one  saw  it  could 
govern,  after  the  magnificent  sight  of  the  pacification 
after  the  Civil  War — the  resumption  of  a  brother 
hood  merely  shaken,  not  annulled. 

Formally,  the  payment  of  the  Indemnity  to  our 
wronged  fellow-citizens  was  demanded.  Tne  press 
had  united  in  pointing  put  that  we  should  never  take 
our  fit  place  among  nations  until,  like  Great  Britain, 
the  least  hurt  done  to  the  meanest  citizen  is  righted 
by  all  the  united  forces  of  the  country.  Spain 
badgered  and  scurvily  treated  Americans  while  an 
Englishman  sauntered  on  the  plaza  without  the 
Captain-General  himself  of  Cuba  daring  to  offer  him 
a  slight. 

No  one  ventures  to  tread  on  the  Lion's  tail — let  it 
be  so  that  none  try  to  pluck  feathers  from  the  Eagle  ! 

Spain  shuffled,  as  usual,  at  a  point-blank  demand. 

She  retaliated  with  words ;  that  she  would  have  put 
down  the  turbulent  long  ago  in  her  confines  but  for 
the  more  or  less  secret  sustenance  of  the  United 
States.  That  weapons,  levies  of  adventurers  and 
food  came  regularly  out  of  our  Atlantic  ports — no 
wonder  from  the  nation  always  at  the  back  of  free 
lances,  like  Lopez,  Walker  and  the  Count  of  Boulbon. 

Not  a  word  about  payment  of  the  debt  ! 
4 


5O  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

At  the  same  time,  as  if  to  accentuate  the  con- 
tempt  and  derision  with  which  this  claim  was  met, 
the  cruelty  and  hardness  with  which  the  Cubans 
were  overwhelmed  were  redoubled. 

On  the  grounds  that  the  field  was  wanted  entirely 
for  the  movements  of  the  Army  of  Repression,  the 
working  population  were  ordered  to  go  within  the 
towns,  such  of  the  goods  and  crops  as  could  not  be 
carried  off  being  destroyed  by  the  soldiery  to  pre 
vent  the  rebels  being  sheltered  and  fed  by  them,  as 
the  case  might  be.  The  military  being  themselves 
on  short  rations,  thanks  to  the  incompetency  or  dis 
honesty  of  the  officials  of  their  own  blood,  these  un 
fortunate  wretches,  homeless,  unclad,  helpless,  died 
like  sheep,  and  the  outskirts  of  the  towns  where  they 
had  been  driven  at  point  of  bayonet  resembled  the 
shambles  of  the  cannibal  King  of  Dahomey. 

All  America  was  aroused  ;  if  the  sword  could  not 
yet  be  drawn,  the  cash-box  should  be  opened  as  well 
as  the  storehouse  for  these  innocent  sufferers. 

Then  was  seen  a  miserable  act.  England  may 
not  have  liked  us  when  we  sent  corn  to  the  victims 
of  the  Irish  Famine  ;  but,  at  least,  she  did  not  raise 
her  hand  against  the  succor  reaching  the  unfortu 
nates.  It  was  left  to  Spain  to  reject  this  relief — and 
add  insult  to  the  barbarity  by  asserting  that  it  was 
intended  underhandedly  for  the  aid  of  the  revolu 
tionists  ! 

Serious  riots  were  set  a-going  in  Havana,  where 
the  Flag  of  Washington  was  hooted  at  on  our  Con 
sulate,  without,  however,  daunting  our  representa 
tive  there — General  Lee — who  firmly  upheld  it  in  the 
face  of  the  seething  scum. 

But  as  there  were  women  and  children  of  our  kin 
under  his  unaided  hand,  he  called  upon  the  home 
Government  to  send  a  sufficient  force  to  cow  thia 
hostility. 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY. 

At  the  opening  of  1898,  the  battle-ship 
was  ordered  to  the  Cuban  capital. 

In  the  evening  of  February  15th,  an  explosion 
occurred  by  which  this  splendid  naval  construction 
was  irreparably  shattered,  and  264  of  her  brave  crew, 
with  two  officers, — the  others  having  providentially 
been  absent  at  a  short  distance, — were  carried  down 
into  the  pestiferous  depths  unless  mercifully  killed 
by  the  shock. 

The  echo  of  that  infernal  machine  went  round  the 
world,  and  there  was  not  a  civilized  country  where 
justice — if  not  vengeance — was  not  called  for,  out 
of  high  heaven,  for  this  destruction  of  a  vessel  in  a 
friendly  harbor,  without  the  least  suggestion  of  a 
state  of  war. 

Even  the  scalping  savages  used  to  go  through  a 
form  of  declaration  of  hostility  before  pulling  the 
bow  or  drawing  the  knife. 

On  the  21st  of  March,  after  an  interval  of  waiting 
in  which  hearts  never  ceased  to  beat,  and  voices  cry 
for  ' '  War  ! "  the  U.  S.  Board  of  Inquiry,  to  which 
a  Spanish  joint-commission  had  been  sternly  refused 
participation,  brought  in  a  verdict,  so  to  say,  that 
the  MAIXE  had  been  destroyed  by  a  submarine  mine. 
The  people — our  people,  nay,  the  world,  stood  aghast 
at  no  blame  being  fixed  or  even  pointed  at  any  one. 
To  this  date,  mystery  surrounds  the  terrible  fate  of 
the  gallant  warship — what  hand  could  have  been  so 
near  the  heart,  the  pride  or  the  spirit  of  Spain,  that 
her  throne  hides  it  ? 

But  Time  melts  the  wax  mask,  or  rends  the  plaster 
off  the  tablet  and  reveals  the  true  architect — "  the 
Man  in  the  Iron  Mask  "  may  never  be  disclosed,  but 
count  on  it,  we  yet  shall  learn  who  pressed  the  elec 
tric  button  and  destroyed  the  MAINE  ! 

On  the  8th  and  the  9th  days  of  March,  the  two 
branches  of  Congress  passed  a  bill  for  the  money  to 


52  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

defray  the  expense  of  National  Defense.  Peace  had 
caught  us  unprepared  for  a  war  with  a  European 
Power,  insignificant  in  herself,  but  she  might  find 
allies,  on  one  or  another  pretext.  The  prosperity 
of  the  United  States — standing  solution,  as  she  is,  to 
the  problem  of  how  to  govern  wisely,  freely  and 
happily — makes  us  unproclaimed  but  inveterate 
enemies  in  tyrants. 

The  ultimatum  of  this  country  was  that  Spain 
should  withdraw  her  forces  from  Cuba  within  three 
days  ;  but,  already,  that  kingdom  had  presented  the 
first  move  in  actual  hostilities  by  informing  our 
Minister  at  Madrid  that  diplomatic  relations  no 
longer  existed  between  the  two  countries. 

The  War  was  fixed  by  Congress  as  having  been 
initiated  April  21st,  1898. 

While  our  agents  were  purchasing  vessels,  and 
Spain  more  or  less  uufruitfully  trying  to  reinforce 
her  navy  by  promises  of  a  broken  treasury,  the  ships 
we  had  in  commission  and  merchantmen,  hurriedly 
fitted  out  for  cruising,  made  a  number  of  prizes  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  Havana  was  not  effectually 
blockaded,  save  on  paper. 

Three  of  our  battle-ships  bombarded  the  Port  of 
Juatanzas  in  April,  which  was  the  first  marked  act 
of  warfare. 

At  the  end  of  that  month,  a  Spanish  fleet  left 
Cape  Verde,  being  their  first  act  of  hostility  towards 
us. 

Arms  were  landed  for  the  Cubans  and  their  co 
operation  was  sought  as  soon  as  our  forces  touched 
Cuban  soil.  Ports  there  were  bombarded,  but  no 
engagement  of  importance  ensued  until  the  close  of 
May,  when  it  was  found  that  the  Spanish  Admiral, 
Cervera,  had  entered  the  harbor  of  Santiago,  one 
with  a  narrow  entrance  where  he  was  "bottled  up." 
The  American  commander  of  the  fleet  which  imme- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  53 

diately  blockaded  this  gorge,  Commodore  Schley, 
drily  remarked  :  "  They  will  be  a  long  while  getting 
home."  Indeed,  on  trying  to  run  out.,  passing  a  hulk 
which  had  been  daringly  placed  in  the  channel  by 
Lieutenant  Hobson,  the  Spanish  ships  were  entirely 
destroyed,  by  fire,  explosions  or  by  running  aground. 
The  American  loss  was  unnoticeable.  The  land 
forces  had  forced  their  way  up  to  Santiago's  gates 
and,  surrounding  it,  its  surrender  was  demanded. 

The  annihilation  of  their  fleet,  under  their  very 
eyes,  should  have  convinced  even  the  obstinate 
Spaniards  of  the  absurdity  of  further  struggling,  but 
it  was  not  without  a  siege  and  shelling  that  Santiag^ 
surrendered  on  the  17th  of  July. 

Porto  Rico  fell  into  our  hands  with  ease,  as  the 
inhabitants  were  eager  to  pass  under  a  more  enlight 
ened  rule.  The  Cuban  campaign  was  over,  all  but 
the  signing  of  the  peace. 

Let  us  hasten  to  return  to  our  subject,  who  was 
no  less  active  in  his  quarter  of  the  globe. 


CHAPTER   VL 

THE  SCENE  OF  OUR  FAR-EASTERN  PROBLEM. — THE 
PHILIPPINES. — PEOPLE. —  CLIMATE. — PRODUCTS.— 
MAN-O'-WAR  LIFE. — ON  THE  EVE  OF  ACTION. 

OUR  territory  of  the  Philippines  is  the  base  of  our 
own  far-eastern  question. 

The  Philippine  Islands  were  discovered  in  1521  by 
Magellan,  a  Portuguese  navigator.  They  are  in  the 
North  Pacific  Ocean  ;  they  may  be  roughly  bounded 
thus  :  To  the  north,  China  and  Japan  ;  to  the 
west,  Burmah,  Siam  and  Malaya  ;  to  the  south, 


54  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

Borneo  and  New  Guinea.  They  number  upwards  of 
a  thousand,  but  several  hundreds  are  very  small  j 
they  seem  fragments  of  a  vast  land,  shattered  by 
earthquakes  or  volcanic  disturbances  ;  they  are  still 
subject  to  cosmic  disruptions,  while  typhoons,  tidal 
waves  and  torrents  of  rain  temper  the  too  paradisaical 
region.  The  hot  and  moist  air,  while  unfavorable  to 
Europeans  and  Northern  Americans,  enable  more 
languid  and  contented  races  to  thrive.  The  winter 
is  the  Rainy  Season  of  the  Tropics  when  outdoor  life 
is  suspended. 

Magellan  made  his  acquaintance  with  the  Philip 
pine  Group  at  the  Marianne  Islands,  which  he  named 
after  the  thievish  natives  the  Ladrones,  that  is, 
Robbers.  There  are  fifteen  of  these,  one  of  which, 
Guam,  or  Guahan,  had  become  a  U.  S.  N.  coaling 
station,  since  we  took  possession. 

The  principal  islands  are  Luzon  and  Mindanao  ; 
the  chief  city  of  all  being  Manila  on  the  former. 

The  article  of  produce  by  which  Europe  and 
America  know  the  place  is  hemp,  Manila  rope  being 
used  extensively  in  whaling  fleets  and  the  present 
navies,  wire  rope  not  having  ousted  it  from  its  pride 
of  place  as  yet. 

But  the  soil  is  fertile  for  grain,  mainly  rice,  the 
main  item  on  the  Philippine  bill  of  daily  fare,  bread 
fruit,  plantains,  mangoes,  etc.;  some  culture  is 
^iven  to  cotton,  tobacco,  sugar-cane  and  sisal ;  it  is 
stated  assuringly  that  the  United  States  could  be 
supplied  with  all  the  sugar  needed  from  our  new  ac 
quisition  alone. 

Spain  took  hold  of  the  Archipelago  under  the 
reign  of  King  Philip  II.,  and  set  his  name  upon  all 
which  he,  therefore,  nominally  governed.  Hence 
the  names  of  Filipinos,  Philippines,  etc.  But  apart 
from  the  two  islands  already  cited,  and  the  larger 
ones,  Panay,  Palawan,  Negros,  Leyte,  Samar,  etc., 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  55 

the  Spanish  in  three  centuries  learned  little  about 
the  interior. 

The  aborigines,  Negritos,  are  physically  small 
and  mentally  low,  so  incapable  of  improvement  that 
scientific  reasoners  do  not  regret  their  dying  out. 
The  savages,  still  infesting  the  mountain  and  forest 
recesses,  have  never  submitted  to  the  Spanish 
arsenal  of  sword,  thumbscrew,  rack,  damp  cells,  and 
strappado  ;  they  remain  unenlightened  ;  a  favorite 
delicacy  with  them  are  the  flying  foxes  (Pteropus 
Ruhr  i  coll  is),  or  fox-bats,  so  named  from  their  reddish 
color  (hence  another  title,  Eoussette,  or  Russet). 

These  curiosities  take  the  first  place  in  the  list  of 
the  odd  creatures  in  the  wilds  from  their  being  the 
largest  of  bats. 

Their  wings  extend  five  feet  across  ;  these  they 
fold  about  them  as  they  hang  in  the  daytime  by 
hooky  hind  feet  from  the  dead  trees,  their  roosting- 
places  after  a  debauch  on  fruit  as  well  as  drinking  their 
fill  of  naturally  fermented  cocoa-nut  juice  (toddy). 
Sleepy  and  intoxicated,  they  hang  in  clusters  like  an 
enormous  fruit,  when  the  savages  gather  them  in 
baskets  and  carry  them  of?  for  feasts ;  they  are 
roasted  and,  it  is  said,  taste  like  hare. 

The  better  civilized  live  on  rice,  salted  fish  and 
yams,  while  the  Mohammedan  Malays,  in  the  ports, 
do  not  disdain  our  canned  comestibles.  A  large 
number  of  Chinese  are  among  the  rest  of  the  popu 
lation  of  eight  or  ten  millions  who  are  our  new 
brothers  in  the  Orient. 

Taken  at  their  best,  that  is,  unaffected  by  the  mis- 
training  under  the  departed  government  which  fos 
tered  treachery  and  cunning  by  its  cruelty  and 
rapine,  the  Filipinos  are  asserted  to  be  honest,  hos 
pitable  and  affable. 

What  the  expelled  rulers  were,  may  be  gathered 
from  their  everyday  sayings,  such  as  :  "  The  official 


56  THE   LIFE  AND  CAREER 

who  cannot  lie  may  as  well  be  dead."  "  Gold  rules 
all  and  his  Viceroy  is  Coin."  "  Officers  get  into  all 
kinds  of  scrapes,  but  officials  get  them  out." 

Spite  of  such  morals,  the  natural  abundance  of 
produce  and  the  trading  facilities  of  Luzon  lifted  it 
into  importance.  Even  the  continual  drain  of  the 
cream  towards  Spain  has  not  prevented  Manila,  its 
capital,  being  noteworthy.  It  was  walled  for  two 
miles,  with  a  thickness  of  well-made  masonry  which 
defied  ancient  artillery,  while  on  one  side  a  river,  on 
another  its  fine  Bay,  with  artificial  moats  for  the 
rest,  set  the  natives,  if  they  revolted,  at  defiance. 

In  1702,  the  English  took  it  without  much  ado. 
The  cannon  on  the  ramparts  were  then  old,  and 
those  of  quite  modern  manufacture,  with  which  our 
advance  was  to  be  checked,  if  possible,  were  few  in 
number  and  poorly  served. 

In  1875,  it  was  projected  to  build  several  railroads 
running  out  of  Manila,  but  the  home  Government 
continued  to  turn  all  funds  to  the  treasury  at 
Madrid  and  only  one  was  constructed  :  150  miles 
from  the  capital  to  Dagupan.  We  shall  do  better 
than  that  in  the  next  twenty  years  ! 

The  place  next  mentioned  to  Manila  is  Iloilo. 
This  is  an  island  300  miles  off.  The  Spanish 
retired  hither  when  driven  by  us  out  of  Manila,  and 
were  promptly  besieged  by  the  native  revolutionists, 
styling  themselves  the  Visa  van  Republic,  not  to  be 
confounded  with  the  insurgents  under  Aguinaldo. 

At  the  same  time,  almost  exactly,  as  the  colonists 
in  Cuba  were  restless  under  the  rules  dictated  at 
Madrid,  those  in  Spain's  Eastern  possessions  were 
chafing. 

Like  sea-eagles  on  a  peak  watching  a  dispute  among 
fish-hawks,  our  Asiatic  fleet  waited  at  Hong  Kong, 
and  would  not  be  allowed  to  wait  for  long. 

It  is   believed  with  reason  that  no  politician  or 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  5/ 

statesman  among  us  dreamt  of  other  work  in  the 
Pacific  but  fettering  the  Spanish  fleet  at  that  point, 
so  that  it  might  not  interfere  with  our  progress  in 
liberating  the  Island  of  Cuba. 

Not  a  glimmer  of  territorial  aggrandizement  ap 
pears  in  all  the  press  or  public  utterances. 

At  Hong  Kong  the  preparations  were  mado  for 
Dewey's  swoop. 

Those  waters  were  animated  with  cruisers  of  vari 
ous  powers. 

Japan  and  China  were  backed  secretly  in  their  tilt 
by  Europeans,  or  at  least  the  Colossus  who  has  one 
foot  in  Asia. 

Germany  had  colonial  designs  ;  France  would  not 
be  content  with  Tonquin ;  England  might  covet  a 
slice  of  the  stepping-stones  between  India  and  Aus 
tralia. 

The  countries  not  directly  engaged  would  stand 
neutral,  implying  that  our  war-vessels  could  not 
obtain  supplies  in  any  port  between  there  and  Cali 
fornia. 

To  destroy  the  Spanish  fleet  under  Montejo,  and 
occupy  for  repairs  and  victualing  the  port  it  waa 
flung  out  of,  was  a  double  ended  project  as  impera 
tive  as  hazardous. 

Be  sure  that  our  naval  commander  weighed  well 
the  chances. 

To  succeed  in  such  a  mighty  dash  was  to  be  hailed 
as  Bold  ;  when  such  feats  fail,  the  bearer  of  the  brunt 
is  styled  Rash. 

He  was  truly  informed  that  never  had  the  insur 
gent  Filipinos  shaken  the  throne  of  their  tyrants  so 
deeply  as  of  late.  Greedy  as  the  Spanish  were  about 
money  and  harassed  to  obtain  it,  the  rebel  leader  had 
been  "bought  off"  the  field  by  a  stupendous  sum, 
but  it  was  asserted,  upon  full  knowledge  of  the 
natives,  that  the  bargain  would  not  hold.  On  the 


58  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

arrival  of  the  hostile  fleet,  the  Spanish  on  deck  and 
on  the  battlement  of  Manila  would  be  betwixt  two 
fires. 

Ordered  out  of  the  Chinese  port  by  the  laws  of 
neutrality,  the  Asiatic  Squadron  touched  at  Mirs  Bav 
and  started  on  that  voyage  which  was  to  be  memor 
able  to  Americans  as  Columbia's. 

War-ships  are  expensive  ;  it  is  necessary  to  employ 
them  without  loss  of  time. 

A  first-class  battle-ship  is  a  monstrous  engine  :the 
boiler  surface  to  generate  steam  to  impel  one  equals 
eight  acres  and  they  hold  thirty  tons  of  water.  Thej 
have  guns  on  them  which  hurl  shot  weighing  half  a 
ton  ;  and  though  we  have  not  on  board  the  artillery 
or  longest  possible  range,  such  as  will  throw  fifteen 
miles,  they  are  ample  for  their  purpose  of  confusing 
an  enemy  who  may  be  smashed  without  seeing  even 
with  a  spy-glass  whence  issued  the  projectile. 

Our  vessels  are  up  to  date  ;  all  scientitic  appliance! 
are  installed  ;  the  electric  plant  would  suffice  to  light 
up  a  town  of  five  thousand  inhabitants  if  transferred 
from  a  war-ship  to  the  shore. 

Under  forced  draft,  the  consumption  of  coal  is 
like  shunting  it  from  the  mine  in  bulk  down  a  chute 
into  the  sea. 

The  Spanish  ships  were  not  up  to  the  mark  for 
want  of  money,  or  rather,  as  was  the  case  with  France 
in  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  the  funds  were  mis 
appropriated  ;  the  gold  went  to  belace  the  officers 
instead  of  providing  the  latest  guns  and  good  am 
munition. 

The  Spanish  sailor  is  brave  as  the  Iberian  peasant 
has  always  been  ;  but  he  is  no  mechanician  as  the 
Yankee  is.  If  anything  goes  wrong  with  intricate 
engines  he  is  all  at  sea.  In  our  Civil  War,  when  our 
columns  reached  a  railroad  junction,  for  example, 
where  the  fugitive  foe  had  left  a  locomotive  disabled 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  59 

beyond  repair,  they  thought,  the  general  simply 
called  a  halt,  and  gave  an  order  to  his  colonels. 

The  latter  appealed  to  the  regiments  :  "Is  there 
not  a  man  or  men  here  knowing  railroad  engine 
building  ?"  and  usually  several  stepped  to  the  front. 
Now,  on  board  the  Spanish  vessels,  the  gunners 
could  not  loosen  a  jammed  breech,  or  clear  a  muzzle 
of  a  prematurely  discharged  cartridge. 

They  had  one  or  two  "  show"  vessels,  but  even  on 
them  the  aspect  lacked  the  extreme  neatness  of  an 
American  man-of-war.  Scarcely  do  the  British,  even 
under  a  martinet,  present  the  spick-and-span  ap 
pearance  of  our  fine  defenders. 

The  spare  hours  are  not  passed  in  spinning  yarns, 
weaving  fancy  knots  or  making  model  ships,  but  in 
fencing,  cutlass  drill,  sword  versus  bayonet  or  lance, 
and  so  on.  As  for  the  guns,  it  is  known  and  was 
affirmed  by  intelligent  observers  that  the  American 
gunners  were  the  most  practised  of  any  the  seas  over. 

If  we  never  had  much  experience  in  evolutions  of 
a  fleet — that  is,  twelve  or  more  battle-ships  in  aline — 
the  Spanish  were  no  better.  The  last  naval  affair  of 
note  in  which  they  won  was  Lepanto,  as  far  back  as 
1571.  In  their  actions  with  the  French  and  English 
they  were  the  second-best  ;  and  as  for  the  defense  of 
their  merchantmen  against  pirates — the  capture  of  a 
Spanish  silver-ship  was  looked  on  as  a  cat  regards 
the  taking  of  a  corpulent  mouse. 

The  news  which  Consul  Williams  brought  at  the 
last  moment  from  Manila  had  severed  the  only  tie 
binding  the  Dewey  Squadron  to  Chinese  waters. 

In  the  final  week  of  April,  1898,  the  American 
force  quitted  the  roads,  composed  of  the  flag-ship, 
Olympia,  Captain  Gridley  ;  the  Baltimore,  com 
manded  by  Captain  Dyer  ;  the  Raleigh,  commanded 
by  Captain  Coghlan  :  the  Boston,  commanded  by 
Captain  Wildes  ;  the  Concord,  commanded  by  Com- 


60  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

mander  Walker,  and  the  Petrel,  commanded  by  Com 
mander  Wood. 

The  Monocacy  lost  her  share  of  glory  as  she  was 
unfit  for  even  a  short  voyage  and  had  to  stay  at 
Shanghae. 

Any  passing  vessel  which  saw  this  warlike  pro 
cession  must  have  guessed  that  their  errand  was  not 
of  peace  ;  for  they  were  painted  in  that  olive-gray 
tint  chosen  to  be  the  fighting-color  of  America  on  the 
waters. 

They  rode,  too,  with  a  lightness  which  showed  that 
they  had  been  docked  and  cleaned  of  the  enormous 
accumulation  of  shells  and  animalculae  common  to 
tropical  waters.  They  were  provisioned  for  three 
months  out,  and  if  the  ammunition  was  not  in  su 
perfluity,  enough  is  as  good  as  a  feast  when  it  came 
to  "giving  the  Dons  a  bellyful!"  The  cannon 
were  always  in  order,  but  they  were  polished  up  and 
eased  in  their  working  as  though  to  receive  a  state 
visit  of  the  Chief  of  our  Commonwealth. 

A  supply-vessel  and  a  collier  were  tenders  to  this 
fleet. 

Even  the  Baltimore,  which  had  been  bringing 
extra  ammunition,  had  been  docked,  cleaned  and 
dressed  before  she  joined  her  companions. 

They  were  only  two  days  out  of  sight  of  land  ;  still, 
the  evolutions  of  actual  warfare  were  performed,  but 
with  more  than  the  usual  relish  with  the  prospect  of 
an  engagement  so  near. 

Like  the  Admiral  and  their  other  officers,  without 
waiting  for  the  "  Maine  Commission  Report/'  still  less 
for  the  declaration  of  war,  all  were  sure  that  the 
dastardly  outrage  was  undeniable  and  not  to  be 
condoned.  In  their  minds  something  like  the  re 
frain,  by  mental,  wireless  telegraphy,  of  a  song  ring- 
ing  along  the  Cuban  shores,  might  be  said  to  circu 
late  from  the  stoke-hole  to  the  top  : 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  6l 

"  Don't  forget  the  watchword,  boys,  whenever  we  strike 

Spain  ; 
Remember  it,   gun  captains,   when  the  order  comes  to 

train  ; 
Remember,    boys,    remember,    the    destruction  of  the 

Maine, 
And  avenge  it  while  fighting  for  freedom." 

Seen  from  aloft,  this  rehearsal  of  the  movements 
in  real  fighting  would  have  convinced  the  observer 
that  the  American  seaman  has  kept  pace  with  the 
innovations  of  science  into  Jack's  domain.,  and  that 
he  was  better  than  a  machine — an  intelligent  one. 

The  routine  begins  with  the  bugle-call  for  "  To 
quarters  ! " 

Every  man  on  board  a  man-of-war  has  his  station 
in  which  he  stands  to  do  his  duty,  come  what  may 
and  until  ordered  away  ;  or  to  issue  hence  as  a  wild 
cat  from  its  lair. 

The  men  who  are  to  repel  boarders  leave  their  re 
spective  guns' screws,  and  rush  upon  the  upper  deck, 
carrying  one  or  more  hammocks  to  be  stowed  in  the 
nettings  when  the  ship  has  a  high  freeboard,  or  to  be 
packed  around  the  deck  machine  and  other  guns,  to 
protect  them. 

The  guns  are  cleared  of  covers  and  sea-lashings,  all 
the  operating  parts,  to  see  that  they  play  smoothly, 
and  the  implements  required  for  loading  and  extract 
ing  placed  in  position. 

Below,  the  powder  magazines  are  opened  and  the 
shells  and  grenades  got  out  ;  the  electric  battle- 
lanterns  are  turned  on,  that  excellent  precaution 
against  fire  which  our  forefathers  did  not  know  of ; 
water  is  pumped  into  the  divisions  so  that  each  com 
partment  is  fire-proof  ;  and  the  hoist  begins  to  raise 
the  deadly  projectiles  of  novel  shapes  to  the  gun- 
decks. 

If  it  is  supposed  the  enemy  has  got  aboard,  the  sea- 


62  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

men  are  massed  before  the  marines,  who  cover  them 
with  their  rifles  in  two  or  more  rows  ;  the  machine- 
guns  are  run  forward  as  to  meet  the  imaginary  foe, 
and  the  charge  is  made  on  the  same. 

Elsewhere  the  signals  of  several  sorts  are  made 
ready  for  use  so  as  to  keep  up  correspondence  each 
with  the  sister-ships  of  the  fleet ;  the  torpedoes  are 
fitted  in  their  ejectors  ;  the  surgeons  prepare  their 
merciful  arsenal. 

All  this  ceaseless  movement  goes  on  without  noise, 
save  for  the  whirr,  the  buzz  of  the  dynamos,  the 
rattle  of  chains  conveying  power,  the  clicking  of 
machinery.  In  these  sham  actions  there  is  no  cheer 
ing,  and  one  misses  the  sound  of  detonations. 

When  each  division  officer  knows  that  hia  scope  of 
duties  is  fulfilled  he  makes  his  report :  thus  the  com 
mander  is  apprised  in  an  incredibly  short  time  that 
the  vessel  is  ready  as  one  comprehensive  thing. 

It  was  with  this  assurance  of  readiness  that  Dewey 
heard  the  cry  of  "  Land  ! "  when  three  days  out.  It 
was  Subig  Bay  headland. 

If  the  enemy  were  there,  in  the  forefront  of  Ma 
nila,  as  might  be,  since  the  Spanish  must  have  known 
that  the  fleet  had  sailed  and  its  destination,  the  con 
test  would  soon  commence. 

As  an  old  comrade  of  the  Admiral  said,  a  year  or 
more  previously:  "  Dewey  will  take  good  care  of 
his  fleet  and  will  make  the  most  effective  use  of  it. 
He  is  sagacious  and  far-sighted  as  well  as  fearless  and 
brave.  The  Spaniards  are  not  likely  to  catch  him 
napping.  There  is  no  officer  in  the  United  States 
navy  who  could  lead  a  fleet  into  battle  with  greater 
certainty  of  victory  than  Commodore  Dewey." 

It  was  Saturday  morning,  April  30th,  and  it  was 
Cape  Bolinao  ahead,  the  N.  E.  point  of  Luzon 
Island.  Scouts  went  ahead  to  spy  into  Subig  Bay. 
backed  by  the  Baltimore  in  case  the  hostile  squadron 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  63 

was  there.  It  is  thirty  miles  this  side  of  Manila 
Bay. 

But  there  were  neither  ships  nor  fortified  works 
there. 

Consul  Williams  was  right  ;  the  enemy  awaited  the 
onset  in  Manila  Bay,  where  the  land  works  would 
strengthen  their  defense. 

On  the  renewed  course  for  that  battle-ground  the 
final  preparations  were  made. 

The  officers  wrote  the  mast  letters  wrhich  might 
never  pass  Davy  Jones'  locker ;  the  sailors  confided 
keepsakes  for  the  sweetheart  at  home  to  a  messmate. 

Then  the  order  went  forth  for  all  "  hamper,"  that 
is,  lumber  as  we  say  on  land,  to  be  thrown  overboard. 

Everything  which  might  catch  fire  or  cause  more 
mischief  by  its  splinters  and  fragments  than  the  in 
coming  shot  which  smashed  it  is  thus  disposed  of 
on  the  eve  of  action. 

In  the  desire  to  make  a  clean  sweep,  the  men  even 
hurled  over  their  mess-room  tables,  though  these 
might  have  been  towed  alongside  ;  one  lad,  in  his 
excitement,  flung  over  his  jacket,  but,  the  next  mo 
ment,  repenting,  he  leaped  over  to  recover  it.  Thte 
caused  astir  which  drew  the  commander's  attention 
on  him.  He  wished  to  know  about  this  infraction 
of  duty,  for  there  is  no  time  to  waste  over  an  indi 
vidual  in  an  encounter.  The  boy  confessed  that  the 
throwing  away  of  the  coat  was  forgetf ulness,  but  that 
the  jumping  after  it  was  intended  ;  the  fact  was,  in 
a  pocket,  was  his  mother's  likeness  and  he  had 
promised  never  to  part  with  it. 

Courage  and  compassion  go  together  in  the  heart 
of  a  true  hero  :  Dewey  pardonedthe  lad,  as  you  may 
be  certain. 

In  this  general  delivery,  his  own  uniform  cap  had 
gone  over  to  amuse  the  sharks,  and  the  artist  who 
pictured  him  at  the  Battle  of  Manila  in  a  cocked  hat 


64  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

deserves  to  be  knocked  into  one;  he  presided  over 
the  struggle  wearing  a  traveling-cap  picked  np  arid 
donned  for  the  nonce.  This  free-and-easy  trait  suits 
our  temperament  and  is  in  vivid  contrast  to  the  exag 
gerated  dandyism  of  two  centuries  since,  when  naval 
commanders  plumed  themselves  on  dressing  for  a  con 
flict  with  wigs  well  dressed  and  all  their  decorations 
upon  the  breast  of  their  best  uniform  coats. 

The  ships  were  as  perfect  as  if  fresh  from  the 
hands  of  the  constructor. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   BATTLE   OF   MANILA   BAY. 

WHEN  the  captains  were  summoned  for  the  council, 
usual  before  a  general  engagement,  faces  began  to 
set  sternly  ;  there  could  be  not  the  least  doubt  pre 
served  now  that  America  was  to  cross  blades  with 
Spain  in  these  remote  seas. 

But  the  set  expression  was  soon  a  serene  smile  : 
every  man  who  had  followed  Dewey  would  continue 
while  he  led,  even  into  the  dread  abode  where  no 
hope  dwells. 

An  old  grizzled  gunner  was  heard  to  say  :  "With 
him  into  the  jaws  of  Hades  ! " 

It  has  been  stated  that  this  council  of  war  was  to 
give  the  superior  the  benefit  of  the  subordinates' 
opinions  and  judgment,  but  this  is  an  error.  He  in 
tended  to  give  them  sheerly  his  final  instructions-- 
the  fighting  orders.  But  more  than  one  knew  ^his 
metal.  Few  had  given  him  even  slight  study  with 
out  coming  to  Admiral  Bunce's  decision  : 

"  Dewey  is  a  gallant  officer  and  a  good  sea  fighter. 
He  will  render  a  good  account  of  himself.  If  there 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  6$ 

is  any  fighting  to  be  done  he  will  be  in  it,  and  he 
will  fight  to  the  last." 

There  were  no  two  courses  here.  The  hostile 
fleet  was  before  them,  backed  by  other  guns  in  for 
tifications.  They  had  not  come  so  far  to  turn  tail 
and  retire — whither  ? 

So,  when  the  plan  of  attack  was  laid  before  the 
group,  and  the  advisability  of  entering  the  harbor 
that  same  night,  all  was  adopted  instantly  save  by 
one  objector.  There  must  always  be  one  doubting 
Thomas,  or  at  least  one  over-prudent.  To  convince 
this  one  into  unanimity,  the  presiding  officer  said  : 

"  The  Spaniards  know  when  we  sailed  from  Mirs 
Bay,  and  they  can  calculate  exactly  when  we  may  be 
expected  to  arrive  off  Corregidor.  But,  in  all  prob 
ability,  their  forecast  of  what  we  shall  do  will  be 
based  upon  the  knowledge  of  what  they  would  do 
under  similar  circumstances.  I  feel  sure  that  they 
would  not  think  of  going  in  at  night,  and  therefore 
that  they  would  not  believe  it  possible  that  we  should 
do  so.  Consequently,  to  go  in  at  night  is  the  best 
thing  that  we  can  do." 

The  way  of  attack  had  been  exposed,  but  not  the 
exact  order  of  the  action.  For  his  part,  it  is  known 
that  one  of  the  captains  had  not  a  definite  idea  of  his 
commander's  lofty  project.  For  he  went  slowly  up 
into  the  harbor,  expecting  to  be  brought  to  a  stand 
still  at  any  moment,  for  who  but  a  madman,  or  a 
genius, — they  resemble  one  another, — would  con 
template  with  such  calmness  the  entrance  of  a  harbor 
probably  lined  with  batteries  and  carpeted  with 
mines  and  torpedoes  ?  This  cautious  captain  doubled 
his  lookouts  and  kept  his  eyes  strained  for  guiding 
signals. 

Meanwhile,  all  being  ready  on  every  deck,  half  the 
men  were  allowed  to  take  a  nap  alongside  the  loosened 
guns.  Few  of  them  really  slept,  perhaps — not  with 
5 


66  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

apprehension,  God  forbid,  on  an  American  deck  !— . 
but  with  eagerness  to  show  that  peace  had  not 
deteriorated  our  "  hearts  of  oak  \" 

When  the  flag-ship  thrust  her  prow  into  Manila 
Bay,  the  moon  was  far  above  the  horizon  and  at  her 
first  quarter.  There  were  clouds,  but  they  were  not 
large  and  were  intermittent  as  regarded  the  light, 
which  prevented  the  night  being  favorable  to  the  rush. 

The  Island  of  Luzon  has,  in  a  rough  delineation, 
the  shape  of  a  whale  in  the  act  of  breaching  or  bend 
ing  its  tail  half  over. 

Imagine  this  fish  to  have  a  triangular  slice  cut  out 
of  the  bend  to  the  west,  the  body  lying  north  and 
south,  head  up.  At  one  angle,  inward,  is  the  city 
of  Manila  ;  a  nick  in  the  opposite  side  represents  the 
entrance,  with  an  island  choking  up  the  gap.  Just 
beyond  the  harbor  mouth,  trending  southward  by 
east,  the  coast  falls  off  to  make  one  side  of  tho 
Straits  of  Manila. 

This  island  is  called  Corregidor,  and  the  Point, 
which  guards  the  other  side  of  the  narrow  channel, 
Mariveles. 

As  the  leading  ship  of  the  squadron  steamed 
through  this  gut,  the  Commodore  remarked  to  his 
flag-officer  : 

"  We  ought  to  hear  from  the  battery  on  that  island 
by  now  ! " 

But  all  was  hushed,  as  all  was  dark.  Except  for 
the  stern  light  which  each  vessel  showed  as  a  guide 
to  the  next,  their  positions  could  hardly  be  defined 
in  the  dusk.  The  second  ship,  the  Baltimore,  could 
\>e  discerned,  but  not  so  the  Raleigh,  next,  which 
was  but  a  phantom  for  the  keenest  sight. 

The  chief  sailed  two  miles  farther,  tending  south 
ward,  being  fairly  abreast  of  Corregidor  Island,  when 
from  there  a  signal  was  sent  out  to  the  mainland, 
through  the  mist. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  6/ 

The  Boca  Grande  (Main  Mouth)  was  passed 
through  as  slowly  as  the  formation  of  the  line  could 
be  maintained.  At  the  end  of  the  other  passage, 
the  Little  Mouth,  a  steady  light  showed  white,  but 
it  did  not  seem  connected  with  our  approach. 

It  was  now  five  or  so  in  the  morning. 

All  of  a  sudden,  a  rocket  went  up  from  the  midst 
of  this  island,  as  if  on  a  message  to  the  god  of  battles, 
Mars. 

The  Olympia  had  passed  a  mile  beyond  Corregidor 
and  within  five  of  Manila,  when  the  first  gun  boomed 
from  a  lone  rock,  called  the  Monk  (el  Fraile),  and 
a  heavy  shell  screamed  through  the  flag-ship's 
rigging. 

Another  quickly  followed,  to  which  three  ships 
made  reply  and  seemed  to  shut  up  that  oppositionist, 
instanter. 

Day  broke.  "  By  the  dawn's  early  light "  the 
Spanish  saw  "  the  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars  !" 

ff  Yes,"  said  a  man  by  a  gun,  "  they  will  see  stars 
before  the  day  is  done  ! " 

There  were  veterans  on  both  sides  ;  but,  though 
"full  many  a  glorious  morning "  they  may  have 
seen,  never  would  the  likeness  of  that  one  for  splen 
dor  be  approached. 

So  thoroughly  beforehand  was  the  planner  of  the 
annihilation  of  the  Spanish  Eastern  fleet,  that,  on 
leaving  Mirs  Bay,  he  had  said  to  one  who  would 
treasure  and  report  his  words  : 

"  The  fight  will  come  off  on  Sunday  next  ! " 

Dewey  turned  to  his  aid  on  the  bridge  and  ob 
served  : 

"  It  has  taken  a  long  time  for  them  to  wake  up, 
but  probably  they  will  make  it  the  hotter  for  us 
when  they  begin." 

A  man  such  as  he  does  not  under-rate  his  foes. 

The  order  of  battle  was  :  the  Olympia,  the  Balti- 


68  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

more,  the  Raleigh,  the  Petrel,  the  Concord  and  the 
Boston.  These  could  go  at  twelve  knots  the  hour, 
and  the  flag-ship  at  fifteen ;  but  they  were  hindered 
by  the  supply  ships,  guarded  only  by  the  cutter 
McCullough,  incapable  of  a  better  pace  than  eight. 
If  the  battle-ships  had  outsped  them,  they  might 
have  been  cut  off  by  Spanish  gunboats. 

The  opposing  fleet,  under  Rear-Admiral  Montejo, 
had  been  lavishly  fitted  at  Cavite  Arsenal,  and  dur 
ing  the  coming  fray  moved  about  under  a  full  head 
of  steam  before  their  station,  at  Cavite,  a  suburb  of 
the  town,  seven  miles  seaward. 

It  is  hard  for  a  landsman  to  conceive  more  than  an 
inadequate  idea  of  a  warship  in  action  ;  the  ponder 
ous  guns  make  a  noise  beyond  that  of  a  whole  broad 
side  of  an  ancient  wooden  ship ;  the  steam  and 
smoke  envelop  the  whole  structure  and  change  the 
brass,  so  brilliant  a  while  before,  into  a  tint  of  verdi 
gris.  The  men  have  to  brace  themselves  against  the 
shock  of  the  discharges,  holding  the  arms  stiff  and 
away  from  the  body  to  let  the  lungs  have  full  play, 
while  the  mouth  is  opened,  to  the  same  end. 

The  detonation  of  the  big  guns  is  more  bearable, 
as  less  sharp  than  of  the  smaller  ones,  and  the  con 
cussion  hurts  less  because  it  is  so  general.  Those 
who  have  had  the  heart  leap  in  response  to  a  sudden 
blow  on  a  big  drum  close  to  them  may  faintly  im 
agine  what  the  boom  of  an  eight-inch  gun  is  like. 

Since  the  "  last  argument"  had  fired,  all  were  ex 
pecting  death  to  come  aboard  ;  and  death  on  a  war 
ship  is  not  attended  by  only  those  horrors  known  on 
land.  If  in  a  land  engagement  thirty-two  per  cent. 
of  the  combatants  are  reckoned  to  be  killed  in  the 
first  few  minutes,  this  is  increased  at  sea. 

A  badly  wounded  sailor  rarely  may  escape,  for 
shells  are  continually  exploding  on  the  smooth  deck 
where  he  has  been  struck  down.  He  cannot  be 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEV.  69 

helped  below  or  tumble  within,,  for  the  storm-hatches 
are  fastened  down  to  keep  out  explosives.  If  not  in 
close  action,  the  wounded  might  be  deposited  be 
hind  the  turrets,  all  the  shelter  which  rises  off  the 
level  decks,  but  there  it  would  be  difficult  for  the 
surgeons  to  exercise  their  art. 

At  the  battle  of  Yalu,  a  single  shot  killed  and 
hurt  over  a  hundred.  In  the  same,  a  surgeon  and 
his  patients  were  all  killed  by  a  shell  bursting  in  their 
ward.  The  boats  have  all  been  shot  away,  of  course, 
and  on  our  ironclads  there  is  nothing  to  make  a  raft 
of  ;  so,  if  the  ship  is  rammed  or  from  any  other 
cause,  sinks,  all  go  down  without  a  chance,  as  when 
the  British  ironclad  Captain  "  turned  turtle"  in 
the  Mediterranean,  The  enemy's  boats  would  also 
be  shattered  ;  so  that,  if  there  were  time  to  do  such  a 
heroic  act  of  compassion,  none  could  be  furnished  to 
save  the  drowning. 

Still  the  Olympia  steamed  on,  not  seeming  to  no 
tice  she  had  been  fired  on  ;  but  a  signal  had  called 
the  little  cutter  McCulloughto  her  offside,  where  she 
would  be  sheltered  from  the  shells. 

Here  came  a  little  incident  which  may  be  that 
touch  of  matter-of-fact  proving  that  the  spirit  can 
not  always  overrule  the  flesh.  At  the  Battle  of 
Leipsic  Napoleon  over-ate  and  lost  the  day  from  in 
disposition.  Dewey,  calling  for  coffee  to  counteract 
some  cold  tea  drank  in  the  hot  night  and  muggy 
morning,  was  as  qualmish  as  a  green  hand  in  his 
first  nor' wester. 

But  the  excitement  and  the  uproar  of  battle  soon 
restored  this  pupil  of  Farragut  to  his  usual  placidity 
when  a  tempest  raged.  It  was  for  him,  and  none 
other,  to  direct  this  storm — at  least,  so  much  of  it 
as  hurtled  and  thundered  from  under  the  American 
banner. 

Barely  a  hundred  yards  ahead  of  his  ship,  all  of  a 


;o  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

sudden,  two  mines  exploded  and  spouted  up  water 
like  dying  whales  vomiting  blood. 

The  secret  intelligence  on  this  subject  had  not 
been  too  explicit.  In  such  a  doubt  the  most  brazen 
front  might  have  wrinkled,  but  not  so  here. 

"  Ha,"  he  said,  "  they  have  some  mines,  after  all,  in 
fit  condition  !  They  are  in  a  hurry  to  settle  matters ! " 

This  to  his  volunteer  aid  on  the  bridge  ;  then  he 
added  to  Lieutenant  Calkins,  the  navigator,  who  was 
steering  all  the  more  cautiously  as  the  only  chart 
obtainable  was  turning  out  faulty  : 

tf  Hold  her  in  as  closely  as  the  water  will  let  you  ; 
but  be  careful  not  to  touch  bottom." 

This  important  officer  is  even  more  exposed  than 
the  chief,  as  his  station  is  with  the  compass  in  iU 
box,  on  the  mast  over  the  bridge  where   the  com 
mander  stands. 

As  for  the  mines,  none  farther  took  up  the  de 
fense.  It  was  soon  considered  that  the  Spaniards 
had  fired  these  more  than  anything  to  make  it  be 
supposed  that  they  had  others  ready,  protecting  the 
fleet  which,  in  its  turn,  protected  the  forts. 

The  crew  began  to  chuckle,  partly  to  slack  the  ex 
treme  nervous  tension  at  being  fired  on  from  below 
as  well  as  in  front,  and  the  word  made  the  rounds  : 

"  They  are  not  so  handy  with  their  mines  as  in 
Havana  Harbor,  are  they  ?  " 

The  sole  shots  from  our  vessels  so  far  were  those 
which  silenced  the  outermost  shore  batteries. 

Meanwhile  the  ordnance  at  Manila  Mole  was  fir 
ing  as  regularly  as  the  guns  could  be  worked.  But 
the  aiming  was  bad  and  the  shots  fell  askew.  The 
Spanish  saw  this  from  the  outset,  but  attributed  the 
failure  to  do  damage,  characteristically  enough,  to 
the  American  ships  being  armored  and  too  far  for 
such  of  their  cannon  as  were  antiquated  and  of  short 
range.  They  kept  up  the  cannonade,  after  the  man- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY  ?I 

ner  of  the  Latin  race  to  be  animated  by  din,  and  to 
reassure  their  fellow-countrymen,,  non-combatants, 
who  were  fleeing  out  of  town  or  posting  themselves 
in  the  church  towers  to  have  a  sanctuary  as  well  as 
an  observatory,  probably  safe. 

A  time  had  been  fixed  for  the  firing,  but  as  it 
was  clear,  as  in  the  case  of  a  poor  fencer  transfixing 
an  adept  by  reason  of  his  own  "  flukes/'  a  chance 
shot  might,  however  blundering  the  gunner,  inflict 
terrible  injury,  the  Commodore  put  forward  the 
hands  of  the  clock. 

His  captain,  Gridley,  not  to  be  immolated  in  the 
bridge  with  his  chief  by  one  shot,  was  in  the  con 
ning  tower.  To  him  he  called,  in  a  voice  clear  and 
ringing  as  the  bugle  which  speedily  sounded  to  be 
gin  "  Firing." 

"  You  may  fire,  Gridley,  when  ready  ! " 

"  When  ready  !  "  This  was  quiet  sarcasm,  for  the 
gunners  had  been  ready  from  over-night  !  Gridley 
had  but  to  nod  to  Charles  Mitchell,  the  ship's  bu 
gler,  standing  by  his  side,  when  he  set  his  gleaming 
instrument  to  his  lips  and  blew  the  shrill  order  over 
the  iron  hull  upon  the  unruffled  waters. 

A  second  later,  one  of  the  Olympiads  eight-inch 
guns  in  the  forward  turret  hurled  its  massy  reply 
towards  both  fleet  and  forts,  while  the  ships  went 
speeding  in  the  same  direction — Cavite,  the  mark, 
three  miles  off. 

Up  to  the  fore-truck  ran  the  signal  to  "Engage  \" 
and  the  attack  became  general  at  last. 

The  contending  fleet  was  represented  by  the  fol 
lowing  vessels,  not  up  to  the  level  of  ours  in  modern 
appliances,  but,  though  of  wood  or  thinly  armored, 
sufficiently  well-armed  to  have  made  a  more  formida 
ble  fight.  The  Reina  Crist  ina,  Cast  ill i,  Don  An 
tonio  de  Ulloa  (these  were  sunk  or  scuttled),  the 
I)on  Juan  de  Austria,  Jslci  $e  .[/uzon,  Islq  de 


72  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

General  Leso,  Marquez  del  Deuro,  El  Correo,  Ve- 
lasco,  Isla  de  Mindanao,  armed  transport  (these  were 
burnt)  ;  two  tugs,  Her  cole  and  Rapido  with,  several 
steam  launches,  captured. 

The  Cristina  and  the  Castillo,  were  the  foremost 
of  the  enemy.,  and  they  must  bear  the  worst  of  the 
charge.  Indeed,  as  the  Olywpia  sheered  to  star 
board,  her  port-battery  of  live-inch  guns  added  their 
violent  roars  to  the  disturbance  of  the  air. 

The  Baltimore,  in  particular,  vied  with  the  chief 
vessel  in  emitting  a  sort  of  volcanic  eruption  upon 
the  line  of  battle  opposite. 

From  Sangley  Point,  where  the  best  artillery  was 
at  work,  being  the  latest  royal  arsenal  turnout  of 
Hontoria  guns,  continued  to  come  a  tolerably  cred 
itable  fire.  More  than  once  it  hulled  our  attackers, 
and  transpierced  the  Boston. 

Its  commander  was  Captain  Frank  Wildes,  whose 
replacing  officer  had  arrived  at  Hong  Kong  before 
he  sailed,  but  he  preferred  to  stick  to  his  ship,  fore 
knowing  the  famous  action.  Another  member  of 
the  same  complement,  Gunner  Evans,  had  no  less 
patriotism  ;  he  had  also  been  detached,  but  cast  his 
lot  afresh  with  his  messmates  in  order  to  lose  no  leaf 
from  their  wreath  of  victory. 

The  exchange  of  warm  compliments  went  on  be 
tween  ships  and  forts  until  a  quarter  to  eight. 

Seeing  that  their  long-bowling  had  apparently  in 
flicted  no  sensible  harm,  the  Don  Juan  of  Austria 
was  started  by  the  Spanish  Admiral  to  check  the 
Olympia  in  its  steady  advance,  like  a  majestic  sea- 
god's. 

It  would  have  been  useless  to  attempt  to  board  her, 
but  it  is  said  that  such  an  intention  was  cherisliovl. 
At  all  events,  the  Don  was  repelled  by  a  broadside  ; 
recoiling,  but  not  to  spring  again.  She  had  fire  in 
her  interior,  which  her  crew  were  unable  to  extin* 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  73 

guish,  and  she  was  beached  to  save  their  lives  ;  one 
officer  had  been  killed  on  her  board,  and  her  flaring 
hull  gave  the  spectators  on  the  towers  their  money's 
worth,  as  one  of  the  beholders  said,  "  If  they  came 
out  to  see  our  own  ships  as  torches  ! " 

Four  times  the  Americans  coasted  along  the  war 
like  but  shifting  front,  baffled  by  their  mobility  : 
then,  relying  no  more  upon  the  harbor  chart,  which 
was  defective,  the  sailing-captain  of  the  Olympia 
offered  to  take  her  in  nearer  the  foe,  trusting  solely 
to  the  sounding  line  to  learn  the  true  depth  of  the 
water. 

This  allowed,  Lieutenant  Calkins  watched  the 
leadsman  as  he  kept  the  plummet  going,  and  steered 
the  powerful  ship  within  two  thousand  yards  of  the 
hostile  bulwarks,  which  range  at  last  enabled  the 
six-pounders  to  tell,  as  the  five-inch  ones  had  been 
favored  a  little  earlier. 

In  spite  of  the  exactness  of  our  gunners,  at  this 
abbreviated  distance,  some  of  the  shells  were  seen  to 
waste  themselves  in  the  waves  or,  flying  too  high,  to 
whizz  over  the  short,  fighting-masts  of  the  opponents. 
At  this  rate  long  would  the  red-and-yellow  float  upon 
the  royal  squadron. 

In  some  of  this  shooting  there  must  have  been 
more  slap-dash,  due  to  excitement,  than  calculation, 
and  good  as  Yankees  are  at  guessing,  the  outcome 
did  not  daunt  the  Spaniards,  who  responded  hand 
somely. 

Indeed,  many  of  the  touches  had  but  to  have  been 
palpable  hits  for  the  losses  to  be  less  one-sided.  Both 
from  the  wooden  walls  and  the  stone  ones  the  shells 
which  fell  thick  on  the  assailants  were  rarely  percus 
sion  but  time-fuses  and  well  measured.  It  may  be 
recorded  that  one  burst  within  thirty  yards  of  the 
Olympia' s  bridge  and  spat  a  fragment,  as  large  as 
one's  fist,  to  scoop  out  the  deck  below  the  Com- 


74  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

modore's  feet.  A  second  cut  the  signal-halliards 
from  the  hand  of  Lieutenant  Brumby,  and  another 
severed  the  rigging  over  the  staff  officers'  heads  ;  a 
shell  struck  a  gun  in  the  ward-room. 

This  calamity  was  caused  by  a  couple  of  our  own 
shells  being  exploded  by  a  shot  boarding,  splitting 
up  the  maindeck  and  upsetting  a  six-inch  gun. 

About  this  time,  the  volunteer  aid  of  the  Com 
modore  having  to  use  his  eyes  like  Argus,  as  be 
was  correspondent  of  the  N.  Y.  Herald  as  well,  per 
ceived  two  small  fleet  boats  creeping  out  from  be 
hind  Fort  Sangley.  Once  out  of  cover  they  put  on 
steam  and  cleft  the  water  at  a  fine  rate.  His  chief 
was  spying  the  shore,  the  ships  and  the  burning  Don 
Juan,  and  being  told  what  was  seen,  impatiently 
and  scornfully  rejoined  : 

"  Well,  you  look  after  them  !  I  can't  be  bothered 
with  torpedo  boats  !  Let  me  know  when  they  are 
sunk  !  » 

Returned  to  watch  the  Reina  Cristina,  which  pre 
ceded  her  companions  as  though  to  avenge  the  Don 
Juan,  sinking  in  flames  like  the  "  Don  Juan"  of 
operatic  fame.  The  secondary  batteries  of  the  flag 
ship  were  accordingly  aimed  at  these  pests,  and  one 
being  sunk,  the  other  disabled,  the  latter  hurried 
whence  she  came.  No  more  small  fry  meddled  with 
the  larger  fishes'  quarrel  after  this  episode. 

The  Cristina  was  still  coming  on,  as  though  she 
were  a  ram  and  hoped  to  cut  down  the  Olympia. 

The  entire  ship's  battery  was  concentrated  upon 
her  while  she  was  getting  into  short  range,  and  those 
who  have  seen  the  target  which  the  Olympiads  gun 
ners  riddle  into  a  sieve,  may  picture  her  appearance 
after  this  terrific  hail.  The  ship  was  filled  with 
dead  and  wounded,  and  in  the  bow  a  column  of 
flame  and  vapor  kept  ascending  as  she  bore  away,  as 
if  her  fate  were  to  be^  Indeecl*  the  same  as  her  pre- 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  75 

decessor,  the  Don.  In  fact,  while  seeking  shelter  of 
the  point,  hope  was  lost  and  she  was  run  aground 
at  the  arsenal. 

The  Castilla,  also  set  afire  by  a  shell,  thanks  to 
her  being  wood,  gave  the  spectators  the  idea  that  the 
Yankees  were  using  Greek  fire  or  the  like,  though 
forbidden  in  civilized  war.  Civilized  war,  in  their 
eyes,  however,  allowed  the  use  of  submarine  mines, 
and  in  time  of  peace  ! 

The  principal  vessels  of  Montejo  being  out  of 
active  fighting  trim,  it  seemed  the  instant  for  the 
so-far  victors  to  go  in  and  finish.  It  is  true  that 
the  water  shoals  so  rapidly  between  where  the  Spanish 
maneuvered  and  their  land  defenses,  that  Dewey  could 
not  repeat  the  bold  dash  of  Nelson  at  the  Battle  of 
Copenhagen.  He  thrust  his  line  between  ships  and 
forts,  reasoning  that  where  the  former  had  room  to 
swing,  other  vessels  had  room  to  sail ;  but  still  the  fret 
fully  agitated  enemy  might  be  closed  in  with,  and 
the  smaller  and  quicker-firing  guns  be  used  effectively 
upon  the  elusive  targets. 

To  the  astonishment  of  all,  on  both  sides,  on  the 
contrary,  the  order  to  "Cease  firing"  was  heard 
through  the  bugle-call,  on  the  attacking  decks,  and 
the  Americans  withdrew  out  of  range,  after  two  and 
a  half-hours'  severe  and  steady  fighting. 

In  the  meantime  the  shore  batteries  had  been  ex 
pending  their  ammunition  and  practising — the  result 
was  little  better — although  the  hostile  squadron  did 
not  deign  to  reply  to  them,  after  the  first  volley,  which 
silenced  the  outer  ones. 

Word  was  sent  ashore,  during  this  pause,  for  the 
Governor  to  stop  firing  from  the  land,  or  the  city 
would  be  shelled.  This  threat  stopped  up  the  guns 
at  three  positions  on  the  mole  and  on  the  wall  of  the 
town.  The  subsequent  events  occurred  solely  be 
tween  thfi  seamen  of  the  two  nation^ 


76  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

It  may  be  inserted  here  that  the  little  McCuUough 
sought  to  emulate  the  risky  conduct  of  the  British 
gunboat  Condor  at  the  bombardment  of  Alexandria. 
This  little  wasp  ran  under  the  guns  of  a  ponderous 
battery,  and,  dodging  its  replies,  peppered  away  at  it 
all  day  until  the  Egyptians  fled  from  their  guns  ! 

The  McCuUough  left  the  cover  of  her  big  sister, 
the  Olympia,  and  darted  right  into  the  harbor,  where 
she  assailed  the  armed  merchantman,  the  Mindanao, 
and  riddled  her  with  her  bow-chaser  so  that  she 
became  unseaworthy. 

Every  one  wanted  to  bear  a  hand  into  this  sea- 
victory. 

The  men  were  immensely  puzzled  at  the  respite. 
They  had  thought  to  keep  on  till  not  a  ship  remained 
in  opposition. 

The  explanation  seemed  insufficient.  They  be 
lieved  they  had  done  well,  and  were  anxious  to  con 
tinue  until  the  Spaniards  were  all  sent  to  the  bottom. 
The  crew  of  the  Olympia  cheered  the  Commodore 
and  the  Baltimore,  and  the  latter  returned  the  com 
pliment.  One  of  the  captains  of  a  gun  crew,  after 
inquiring  of  a  number  of  officers  as  to  the  reason  of 
the  suspension  of  hostilities,  was  told  grimly  "  for 
breakfast."  He  made  his  way  immediately  to  Cap 
tain  Gridley  and  exclaimed  : 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  Captain,  don't  let  us  stop 
now.  A  fig  for  breakfast !  " 

It  was,  perhaps,  solely  to  the  men  in  the  inmost 
depths,  the  stokers,  that  the  rest  came  preciously. 
It  was  said  that  the  forced  draft  on  the  Olympia  sent 
the  temperature  up  to  two  hundred  degrees,  so  that 
the  men's  beards  were  singed  ! 

-   Nevertheless,   on   being  freshened  up,  they  were 
not  the  last  to  desire  the  renewal  of  the  action. 

The  damage  done  to  the  enemy  could  be  partially 
seen.  The  shore  batteries  were  not  to  interfere, 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  7/ 

that  was  arranged  now  ;  and  the  minor  craft  of  the 
Spanish  could  not  be  very  eager  for  the  second 
bout. 

Meawhile  the  captains  came  aboard  the  flag-ship 
to  compare  notes  and  report  casualties. 

The  chief  had  been  most  anxious  about  the  Boston, 
as  she  had  been  seen  on  fire  :  a  shot  had  entered 
like  a  hat-pin  into  a  griddle-cake,  but  without  killing 
any  one  ;  the  fire  caused  by  it  had  been  subdued. 

The  other  shots  from  the  enemy  had  been  mostly 
at  random,  and  all  penetrations  of  the  armor  had 
been  slight. 

The  disablement  of  half  a  dozen  men  was  all  the 
detriment  to  the  personnel  which  was  reported.  It 
was  worse  as  regarded  the  ammunition,  as  the  supply 
for  the  big  guns  was  certainly  not  in  excess. 

Meanwhile,  the  Spanish  vessels  began  to  be  sub 
merged  or  to  burn  or  blow  up,  which  restored  con 
fidence  as  to  the  result  anticipated. 

It  was  clear  that  there  might  be  provision  enough 
for  the  large  guns  to  finish  with  the  more  than  deci 
mated  flotilla,  which  it  was  the  order  to  disable  or 
destroy. 

The  attack  was  resumed  in  four  hours,  that  is,  at 
eleven  o'clock. 

In  the  lull,  the  men  had  partaken  of  breakfast,  ac 
cording  to  that  order  which,  telegraphed  round  the 
world,  in  the  account  of  the  decisive  action,  had  drawn 
a  hearty  laugh  from  all  Anglo-Saxons.  A  general 
had  said  that  battles,  on  land,  were  to  be  won  on 
the  soldiers'  legs  ;  another,  that  it  was  upon  their- 
stomachs^  meaning,  the  English  fight  best  when 
well  fed.  In  this  case,  the  check  to  the  ardor  of  a 
combat  to  lunch  was  human  and  sensible  :  a  poet 
has  embalmed  the  stroke  of  human  feeling  in  a  line  : 

"  The  greatest  god  of  battles  is  he  who  cooks  the  grub" 


78  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

By  this  time  the  forlorn  condition  of  the  discom 
fited  Spaniards  was  evident.  While  attention  was 
still  paid,  on  the  fire  opening  anew,  to  the  wrecks 
until  they  offered  no  more  resistance,  it  was  on  the 
remainder  of  the  flotilla  that  the  iron  rnin  was 
hurled.  The  last  foe  had  to  scuttle  and  sink,  to 
avoid  falling  into  our  hands  as  a  solitary  prize.  It 
was  impossible  for  it  to  run  out  of  the  beleaguered 
harbor. 

Having  not  one  vessel  on  which  to  maintain  hU 
flag,  Admiral  Montejo,  who,  besides,  was  wound  oil, 
took  to  the  shore  and  was  transported  for  surgical 
assistance  into  the  town. 

The  Commodore  had  been  most  anxious  about  the 
Boston,  as  she  had  been  seen  on  fire  ;  but  the  shot 
had  not  done  notable  damage  ;  another  from  the 
Hontoria  guns  at  Sangley  Point  had  perforated  the 
Baltimore,  had  wounded  all  the  injured  of  the  fleet, 
namely,  eight ;  but  while  two  poor  fellows  had  broken 
limbs,  the  other  wounds  were  little  to  dread.  Five 
of  our  floating  batteries  had  concentrated  their  sixty 
guns  on  that  seat  of  irritation  and  settled  the  dispute 
on  the  spot. 

Not  a  vessel  crippled ;  not  a  fatality  among  the 
men  !  Such  a  blank  is  amazing  when  one  compares 
it  with  the  list  of  losses  in  the  olden  sea-fights.  At 
Aboukir,  the  winners  lost  all  but  1,000  men  ;  at 
Trafalgar,  the  English  lost  2,500  against  the  French 
7,000  ;  at Navarino,  the  "  butcher's  bill"  was  6,000  ; 
at  Lissa,  combat  of  ironclads,  860  to  176. 

But  the  Spanish  had  severely  suffered,  and  the 
white  flag  fluttered  swiftly  to  the  top  of  the  masts, 
as  if  inspired  with  eagerness  to  express  the  opinion 
along  shore  that  the  victory  was  undoubted. 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  white  flag  was  run  up. 

Our  triumph  was  complete. 

Manila  was  now  shut  in  ;  Cavite  Arsenal  lay  a^ 


OF  ADMIRAL  IflEWEY.  79 

the  mercy  of  the  victors,  with  the  stores  of  which 
they  had  need,  to  serve  as  the  base  which  we  had 
desired  in  the  East. 

The  cable  was  cut  so  that  the  only  communication 
with  Spain  lay  through  the  one  at  Hong  Kong,  which, 
of  course,  across  the  sea  controlled  by  our  cruisers, 
was  out  of  the  question. 

Dewey  was  isolated,  but  the  master  of  the  situation. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  OFFICIAL   REPORT   OF  THE   VICTORY. 

"  FLAGSHIP  OLYMPIA,  CAVITE, 
May  4,  1898. 

i(  The  squadron  left  Mirs  Bay  on  April  27,  arrived 
off  Bolinao  on  the  morning  of  April  30,  and,  finding 
no  vessels  there,  proceeded  down  the  coast  and  ar 
rived  off  the  entrance  to  Manila  Bay  on  the  same 
afternoon.  The  Boston  and  the  Concord  were  sent 
to  reconnoiter  Port  Subig.  A  thorough  search  was 
made  of  the  port  by  the  Boston  and  the  Concord,  but 
the  Spanish  fleet  was  not  found. 

"Entered  the  south  channel  at  half-past  eleven 
p.  M.,  steaming  in  column  at  eight  knots.  After 
half  the  squadron  had  passed  a  battery  on  the  south 
side  of  the  channel  opened  fire,  none  of  the  shots 
taking  effect.  The  Boston  and  Me CullougJi  returned 
the  fire.  The  squadron  proceeded  across  the  bay  at 
slow  speed  and  arrived  off  Manila  at  daybreak  (May 
1st,  1898),  and  was  fired  upon  at  a  quarter  past  five 
A.  M.  by  three  batteries  at  Manila  and  two  near 
Cavite,  and  by  the  Spanish  fleet  anchored  in  an  ap 
proximately  east  and  west  line  across  the  mouth  of 


80  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

Bakor  Bay,  with  their  left  in  shoal  water  in  Canacao 
Bay. 

"The  squadron  then  proceeded  to  the  attack,  the 
flag-ship  Olympia,  under  my  personal  direction, 
leading,  followed  at  a  distance  by  the  Baltimore, 
Raleigh,  Petrel,  Concord  and  Boston,  in  the  order 
named,  which  formation  was  maintained  throughout 
the  action. 

"The  squadron  opened  fire  at  nineteen  minutes 
to  six  A.  M.  While  advancing  to  the  attack  two 
mines  were  exploded  ahead  of  the  flag-ship,  too  far 
to  be  effective.  The  squadron  maintained  a  con 
tinuous  and  precise  fire  at  ranges  varying  from  5,000 
to  2,000  yards,  counter-marching  in  a  line  approxi 
mately  parallel  to  that  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  The 
enemy's  fire  was  vigorous,  but  generally  ineffective. 
Early  in  the  engagement  two  launches  put  out  to 
ward  the  Olympia  with  the  apparent  intention  of 
using  torpedoes.  One  was  sunk  and  the  other  dis 
abled  by  our  fire  and  beached  before  they  were  able 
to  fire  their  torpedoes. 

"  At  seven  A.  M.  the  Spanish  flag-ship  Reina  Cris- 
tina  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  leave  the  line  and 
come  out  to  engage  at  short  range,  but  was  received 
with  such  a  galling  fire,  the  entire  battery  of  the  Olym 
pia  being  concentrated  upon  her,  that  she  was  barely 
able  to  return  to  the  shelter  of  the  point.  The  fires 
started  in  her  by  our  shell  at  the  time  were  not 
extinguished  until  she  sank. 

"  The  three  batteries  at  Manila  had  kept  up  a 
continuous  fire  from  the  beginning  of  the  engage 
ment,  which  fire  was  not  returned  by  my  squadron. 
The  first  of  these  batteries  was  situated  on  the  south 
mole  head  at  the  entrance  of  the  Pasig  River,  the 
second  on  the  south  position  of  the  walled  city  of 
Manila,  and  the  third  at  Malate,  about  one-half  mile 
farther  south.  At  this  point  I  sent  a  message  to  the 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  8 1 

Governor-General  to  the  effect  that  if  the  batteries 
did  not  cease  firing  the  city  would  be  shelled.  This 
had  the  effect  of  silencing  them. 

"At  twenty-five  minutes  to  eight  A.  M.  I  ceased 
firing  and  withdrew  the  squadron  for  breakfast.  At 
sixteen  minutes  after  eleven  I  returned  to  the  at 
tack.  By  this  time  the  Spanish  nag-ship  and  almost 
all  the  Spanish  fleet  were  in  flames.  At  half-past 
twelve  the  squadron  ceased  firing,  the  batteries  being 
silenced  and  the  ships  sunk,  burned  and  deserted. 

"  At  twenty  minutes  to  one  the  squadron  returned 
and  anchored  off  Manila,  the  Petrel  being  left  behind 
to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  smaller  gunboats, 
which  were  behind  the  point  of  Cavite.  This  duty 
was  performed  by  Commander  E.  P.  Wood  in  the 
most  expeditious  and  complete  manner  possible. 
The  Spanish  lost  the  following  vessels  : — Sunk, 
Reina  Cristina,  Castillo,,  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa ; 
burned,  Don  Juan  de  Austria,  Isla  de  Luzon,  Isla 
de  Cuba,  General  Lezo,  Marques  del  Duero,  El  Correo, 
Velasco  and  Isla  de  Mindanao  (transport)  ;  captured, 
Rapido  and  Hercules  (tugs)  and  several  small 
launches. 

"I  am  unable  to  obtain  complete  accounts  of  the 
enemy's  killed  and  wounded,  but  believe  their  losses 
to  be  very  heavy.  The  Reina  Cristina  alone  had 
one  hundred  and  fifty  killed,  including  the  captain, 
and  ninety  wounded.  I  am  happy  to  report  that  the 
damage  done  to  the  squadron  under  my  command 
was  inconsiderable.  There  was  none  killed  and  only 
seven  men  in  the  squadron  were  slightly  wounded. 
Several  of  the  vessels  were  struck  and  even  pene 
trated,  but  the  damage  was  of  the  slightest,  and  the 
squadron  is  in  as  good  condition  now  as  before  the 
battle. 

"  I  beg  to  state  to  the  department  that  I  doubt 
if  any  commander-in-chief  was  ever  served  by  more 
6 


82  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

loyal,  efficient  and  gallant  captains  than  those  of  the 
squadron  under  my  command.  Captain  Frank 
Wildes,  commanding  the  Boston,  volunteered  to  re 
main  in  command  of  his  vessel,  although  his  relic- i' 
arrived  before  leaving  Hong  Kong.  Assistant  Sur 
geon  Kindelberger,  of  the  Otympia,  and  Gunner 
J.  C.  Evans,  of  the  Boston,  also  volunteered  to  re 
main  after  orders  detaching  them  had  arrived. 

"  The  conduct  of  my  personal  staff  was  excellent. 
Commander  B.  P.  Lamberton,  Chief  of  Staff,  was  a 
volunteer  for  that  position,  and  gave  me  most  efficient 
aid.  Lieutenant  Brumby,  flag  lieutenant,  and  En 
sign  E.  P.  Scott,  aid,  performed  their  duties  as  signal 
officers  in  a  highly  creditable  manner.  Caldwell, 
flag  secretary,  volunteered  for  and  was  assigned  to  a 
subdivision  of  the  5-inch  battery.  Mr.  J.  L.  Stick- 
ney,  formerly  an  officer  in  the  tlnited  States  Navy, 
and  now  correspondent  for  the  New  York  Herald, 
volunteered  for  duty  as  my  aid,  and  rendered  val 
uable  service.  I  desire  especially  to  mention  the 
coolness  of  Lieutenant  C.  G.  Calkins,  the  navigator 
of  the  Olympia,  who  came  under  my  personal  ob 
servation,  being  on  the  bridge  with  me  throughout 
the  entire  action  and  giving  the  ranges  of  the  guns 
with  an  accuracy  that  was  proven  by  the  excellence 
of  the  firing. 

"  On  May  2,  the  day  following  the  engagement, 
the  squadron  again  went  to  Cavite,  where  it  remains. 
On  the  3d  the  military  forces  evacuated  the  Cavite 
arsenal,  which  was  taken  possession  of  by  a  landing 
party.  On  the  same  day  the  Raleigh  and  Baltimore 
secured  the  surrender  of  the  batteries  on  Corregidor 
Island,  paroling  the  garrison  and  destroying  the 
guns.  On  the  morning  of  May  4  the  transport 
Manila,  which  had  been  aground  in  Bakor  Bay,  was 
towed  off  and  made  a  prize." 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  83 


CHAPTER  IX 

FENCING  FOR  TIME. — THE  INSURRECTION  AND  ITS 
HEAD. — THE  MOCK  TREATY. — WHILE  HELP  WAS 
DUE. — OUR  "  ALLIES." — GUARDING  THE  PRIZE. 

THE  victorious  fleet  now  lay  at  Sangley  Point,  near 
Cavite,  commanding  a  view  of  the  two  inlets  at  the 
Bay  mouth,  and  having  Manila  under  its  guns. 

The  shore  was  dotted  with  the  ruins  of  the  vessels 
partly  sunk  ;  smokestacks  and  short  masts  stuck  up 
like  bones  of  mastodons  in  an  antediluvian  cemetery. 

Beyond,  rolled  the  ocean  where  never  more  would 
the  Spaniard  domineer  ;  he  was  now  cowering  between 
the  conqueror  and  the  rebels,  of  whom  he  had  long 
since  lost  the  confidence,  and  the  power  to  re-fasten 
the  yoke. 

News  of  the  glorious  action  had  been  despatched 
to  Hong  Kong  for  Washington,  as  the  other  means 
of  telegraphic  communication  was  severed. 

Early  next  morning,  Monday,  order  was  given  for 
Captain  Lamberton  to  take  possession  of  Cavite  town 
and  arsenal.  This  gallant  officer  had  come  from 
home  to  take  command  of  the  Boston,  but  its  own 
captain,  though  his  time  was  up,  had  pleaded  so 
warmly  to  retain  his  post  during  the  battle  impend 
ing,  that  his  entreaty  was  granted.  By  way  of  com 
pensation,  the  arrangements  of  the  transfer  of  Cavite 
were  placed  in  his  hands. 

The  Petrel  conveyed  him  and  a  landing-party  for 
escort  to  the  jetty. 

Fully  aware  of  the  traditional  treachery  of  the 
Spanish,  also  an  everyday  tale  in  the  Orient,  Lamber- 


84  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

ton  prudently  desired  the  captain  of  the  Petrel  to 
allow  him  an  hour  only  within  the  lines  of  the  beaten 
forces  ;  if  he  did  not  reappear  then,  the  man-of-war 
might  fire  on  the  place  and  rescue  him  dead,  if  lie 
were  not  fated  to  come  forth  alive. 

That  would  be  ten  A.M. 

As  a  fact,  the  intruder  found  the  arsenal  guarded 
by  some  eight  hundred  marines  (Infanteria  de  la 
Marina),  well  armed  with  the  Mauser  rifle  of  which 
we  heard  frightful  things  in  the  Cuban  campaign. 
This  was  hardly  the  proper  aspect  of  a  capitulating  foe. 

The  envoy  was  received  by  Captain  Sostoa,  R.  N., 
in  the  absence  of  his  admiral. 

The  visiting  party,  comprising  Dewey's  aid,  and 
Lieutenant  Wood,  with  the  messenger,  were  soon 
encompassed  by  what  might  be  curious  soldiers  but 
more  resembled  a  guard. 

"  How  comes  it,"  was  the  question  put  indignantly 
without  hesitation,  "  that  this  place  is  filled  with  men 
under  all  arms,  though  you  ran  up  the  white  flag 
yesterday,  in  token,  we  suppose,  of  complete  surren 
der?" 

The  Spaniard  replied  with  the  morgue,  or  phlegm, 
of  his  nation,  that  they  had  not  hoisted  the  blank 
fla^  in  sign  of  defeat,  but  merely  to  cover  women  and 
children  being  removed  to  a  safer  spot. 

This  evasion  was  enough  to  make  anybody  frown. 

The  American  shortly  returned  that  the  non-com 
batants  ought  to  have  been  removed  long  before,  and 
that  no  one  in  modern  warfare  recognized  such 
devices. 

The  other  retorted  that  they  had  no  time,  in  truth, 
as  the  Yankees  had  begun  so  early — caught  them  nap 
ping,  in  short  !  It  was  the  kind  of  reproof  the  old 
Austrian  general  uttered  against  Bonaparte  because 
he  had  taken  his  citadel  contrary  to  the  tactics  up  to 
then  in  vogue. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  8$ 

(e  But  you  fired  the  first  shot  !"  was  remonstrated. 

Lamberton  did  not  trouble  to  continue  the  discus 
sion  :  he  plainly  announced  that  he  had  come  to 
take  possession  of  the  place ;  if  it  were  not  surren 
dered,  the  fleet  would  again  open  fire. 

This  threat  staggered  the  other,  who  had  expected 
to  gain  time — perhaps,  till  the  eternal  "to-morrow" 
of  his  race  and  that  latitude.  He  urged  that  he 
must  consult  with  his  superiors,  as  he  was  only  a  navy 
captain.  He  also  wanted  the  demand  put  in  writing. 
This  was  done,  as  a  formality,  but  there  was  no  more 
shilly-shally.  Besides,  it  was  dangerous  to  linger, 
since  the  Petrel,  as  was  agreed,  might  turn  on  her 
guns  ;  the  hour  was  nearly  expired. 

So  Captain  Sostoa  was  allowed  two  hours  to  settle 
writh  his  admiral,  and  the  governor  of  the  province 
and  city,  before  repeating  their  decision. 

The  party  hastened  to  re-embark  and  cross  the 
Bay  to  communicate  the  report. 

At  10:45,  the  white  flag  went  up  once  more  :  the 
surrender  was  undisputed  this  time  ;  but  there  & 
always  a  card  up  the  sleeve  of  the  Peninsulars  : 
when  the  marines  landed  to  take  charge,  they  found 
nobody  there,  it  is  true,  but  all  the  sailors,  navy- 
yard  men  and  marines  had  marched  off  with  all  the 
weapons,  small  arms  and  muskets,  which  is  contrary 
to  established  usage  in  such  cases. 

"  The  scurvy  rats  !"  remarked  a  seaman,  "  I  won 
der  they  did  not  blow  up  the  stores  ! " 

Shortly  after  the  occupation  of  the  port  and  Cavite, 
happened  one  of  the  comic  incidents  of  the  war. 

One  day,  a  pert  little  gunboat  ran  up  into  the  Bay. 
She  had  the  red-and-yellow  flying  and,  with  all  the 
confidence  of  the  world,  made  straight  for  the  flag 
ship  as  if  it  were  Tom  Thumb  emboldened  to  attack 
a  giant.  As  in  duty  bound,  two  or  three  vessels,  in 
the  road,  incontinently  opened  fire  upon  her  with 


86  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

six-pounders,  for  she  was  right  in  amongst  them 
before  they  could  recover  from  their  amaze  at 
such  audacity. 

These  loaded  shots  were  taken  for  simple  salutes, 
it  would  seem,  for  it  did  not  stay  the  Callao — such 
was  her  name — in  the  least.  Saucy  and  reckless, 
she  continued  to  run  a-muck  at  the  Olympia. 

But  when  a  live  shell  ripped  the  sun-blind  clean 
across  her  waspy  waist,  her  commander  must  have 
perceived  that  he  was  very  much  out  of  his  calcula 
tions  ;  indeed,  he  had  mistaken  the  fleet  for  his  own 
and  the  flag-ship  for  Admiral  Montejo's.  He  had  been 
living  in  the  woods — that  is  to  say,  more  precisely, 
coasting — and  was  totally  unaware  not  only  that 
war  had  been  declared  between  the  U.  S.  A.  and  the 
Kingdom  of  Spain,  but  that  the  fleet  he  sought  had 
been  devastated  and  now  strewed  the  shores,  and  the 
admiral,  to  whom  he  thought  to  report,  was  laid  on 
a  bed  of  pain  after  his  flag-ship  had  been  cleft  to  the 
water's  edge. 

This  nautical  Rip  van  Winkle,  whose  real  name  was 
Pan,  was  now  undeceived  by  the  officer  who  went 
aboard  in  his  cutter  and  demanded  his  sword. 

It  is  said  that  his  blank  face,  immediately  wearing 
an  expression  of  astonishment,  would  have  been  a 
fortune  to  a  low  comedian. 

After  all,  no  one  blamed  him  for  the  blunder,  as  he 
made  our  navy  a  pretty  little  present ;  the  Callao 
was  built  for  these  shallow  estuaries,  and  was  promptly 
put  in  commission  to  chase  his  fellow-countrymen 
in  the  coast  outposts. 

As  tender  to  the  Concord,  she  soon  did  the  States 
some  service. 

By  the  16th  of  May,  the  blockade  was  strictly  estab 
lished  over  Manila.  Trade  was  paralyzed,  of  course, 
and  a  scarcity  of  provisions  prevailed. 

All  over  the  country,  the  news  of  the  strangers 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  8/ 

having  soundly  thrashed  the  hereditary  foes  and 
cooped  them  up  in  the  city  was  carried  by  word  of 
mouth,  but  with  a  celerity  which  beats  the  tele 
phone.  The  rebel  army,  which  had  been  disbanded 
nominally  when,  in  1897,  its  leader  accepted  a  sum 
of  money  from  the  mother-country,  began  to  flock 
under  arms  anew — said  arms  being  in  many  cases  a 
cane  pointed  and  "  steeled  "  in  the  bush-fire.  They 
appeared  on  the  landside  of  Manila,  and  so  zealously 
harried  the  garrison  that  this  was  frying  between 
two  fires,  theirs  and  the  fleet. 

Our  Admiral,  as  he  began  to  be  called — for  he 
was  promoted  from  Acting  Rear- Admiral  to  a  full 
Rear-Admiral's  dignity  in  July,  and  created  a  full 
Admiral  in  December,  1898  (the  pupil  of  Farragut 
holding  at  last  the  honor  handed  down  to  Admiral 
Porter,  and  held  by  no  other  in  the  interim) — our  Ad 
miral  sent  word  home  that  he  could  take  the  town 
"  nt  any  hour."  But  he  had  as  yet  no  force  to  hold 
it. 

Since  help  from  the  States  came  so  slowly,  for  it 
would  seem  that  the  importance  of  our  conquest  was 
not  realized  in  Washington,  it  was  necessary  to  keep 
the  Spanish  employed  on  land  by  other  hands. 

Therefore,  the  chief  of  the  native  party  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  tottering  government  was  solicited  to  fling 
his  brand  again  into  the  conflagration. 

It  was  Emilio  Aguinaldo,  the  Bolivar  of  the  Philip 
pines. 

Who  is  Aguinaldo  ?  was  the  natural  question  in 
America  when  it  was  learnt  that  this  was  the  name 
of  one  whom  Admiral  Dewey  allowed  to  be  transport 
ed  with  his  immediate  followers  from  China,  where 
he  had  been  fostered  by  our  Consul,  upon  a  gover- 
ment  vessel.  And,  more  to  the  purpose,  as  soon  as 
he  landed  at  Cavite,  on  May  19th,  to  raise  again  the 
rebel  flag,  not  soon  to  be  hauled  down,  he  was  lib- 


88  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

erally  supplied  with  modern  martial  equipment  out 
of  the  plentiful  Spanish  stores  in  the  arsenal. 

The  earlier  history  of  the  Philippine  Colony  is  that 
of  all  under  the  Spanish  scepter  ;  the  iron  hand  is 
only  relaxed  that  the  slave  may  breathe  again  and 
do  another  day's  work. 

The  natives,  meek  though  they  are  for  the  main 
part,  had  enough  of  the  human  spirit  to  revolt  now 
and  then,  and  try  to  throw  off  the  insufferable  yoke. 
Ignorant  as  the  masses  are,  they  had  leaders  who  had 
caught  a  glimpse  of  freedom  in  other  spots,  in  trav 
els  in  Europe  or  our  more  enlightening  lands. 
These  on  their  return,  simultaneously  with  the 
Cubans,  in  that  freedom's  fight  never  done,  organized 
a  Revolutionary  Junta,  which  kept  galling  the  Vice 
roy's  side. 

Steel  and  garotte  had  done  their  utmost  without 
avail,  but  it  was  thought  that  gold  would  serve  the 
purpose  better  ;  though  gold  was  the  metal  impov 
erished  Spain  had  the  least  of,  it  was  found  for  the 
pacification  of  the  Philippines. 

In  1897,  it  was  telegraphed  to  the  world  in  general 
and  for  the  rejoicing  of  the  Spanish  bondholder  in 
particular,  that  the  Philippine  Insurrection  was  at 
an  end.  Unable  to  procure  arms  through  the  excel 
lent  cordon  around  the  islands  at  last  completed  by 
the  masters,  the  rebels  were  helpless  and  their  chiefs 
had  listened  to  the  counselor,  aided  by  the  music  of 
rattling  coin. 

The  Junta  Patriotica,  with  whom  the  agent  of 
Spain  had  dealt,  was  composed  of  a  president,  home, 
foreign,  and  war  secretary.  The  president,  Agui- 
naldo,  and  a  kinsman  filled  two  «f  the  offices. 

Emilio  Aguinaldo  y  Famos,  born  of  a  good  provin 
cial  family  of  Cavite,  was  educated  at  Manila  for  the 
legal  profession. 

As  in  France,  the  bar  leads  to  the  barricade  or  the 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  89 

judge's  bench  just  as  the  advocate  speaks  for  people 
or  patrician. 

He  was  actively  concerned  in  the  opposition  afield 
against  the  tyrants  in  the  fall  of  1896,  but  he  did  not 
become  a  leader  until  a  noted  insurrectionist,  Dr. 
Rizal,  was  executed  and  left  him  a  place  in  the  Rebel 
Cabinet. 

As  president,  he  had  the  management  of  the  nego 
tiation  on  the  weaker  side. 

Eight  hundred  thousand  Mexican  dollars,  say  half 
that  amount  in  our  currency,  was  the  bribe,  for  all 
the  arms  the  Junta's  followers  held  to  be  given  up, 
while  these  active  though  unfaithful  spirits  were 
prudently  to  go  away  from  the  islands  and  stay  aloof 
at  the  will  of  the  Home  Government.  They  were  to 
use  all  their  influence  while  at  home  in  disbanding 
and  disarming  their  forces,  and  keep  up  the  peace 
ful  arguments  from  a  distance. 

Neither  of  the  parties  trusted  the  other — "  Ar 
cades  anibo"  or,  as  Lord  Byron  translated  it  : 
"  Blackguards  both  !"  So,  while  Home  Secretary 
of  the  Revolutionists  Artacho  surrendered  to  the 
Captain-General  of  the  Philippines  as  a  hostage,  his 
chief  went  to  neutral  ground,  that  is,  Hong  Kong, 
the  British  trading-port  of  China,  to  receive  the  first 
instalment  of  the  cash. 

Half  the  money,  as  earnest,  was,  in  truth,  waiting 
in  the  bank  there. 

So  Aguinaldo  telegraphed  that  Artacho  could  be 
let  loose.  He,  too,  hurried  to  the  spot,  in  hot  haste, 
to  finger  his  share  of  the  hush  money. 

Artacho  wanted  to  have  the  funds  to  divide  it 
among  the  leaders  according  to  their  rank,  in  which 
case  he  would  have  a  lion's  share.  But  Aguinaldo, 
more  honorably,  insisted  that  it  was  a  trust  fund  to 
beheld  until  it  was  seen  how  the  Spaniards  carried 
out  their  side  of  the  contract.  If  they  behaved  ill, 


go  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

the  money  would  be  justly  used  in  renewing  the  war  ! 
Artacho  had  attached  the  deposit  however,  so  that 
no  one  could  handle  it,  unless  his  embargo  was  re 
moved.  He  was  finally  calmed  by  a  plaster  of  rive 
thousand.  The  rest  was  turned  into  the  exchequer 
of  the  rebellion,  and  the  Spanish  are  believed  to  know 
that  it  was  thus  spent. 

The  treaty  between  insurrectionists  and  royalists 
was  signed  and,  as  usual  in  these  mock  "  pacifica 
tions,"  the  party  of  the  first  part  began  to  cheat  and 
distort  the  clauses. 

Insurgents  who  had  been  sent  into  penal  servitude 
— and  the  horrors  of  Spanish  convicts  deserve  a  page 
alongside  that  of  Russia's — were  not  released  ac 
cording  to  proviso.  Other  leaders  were  punished  as 
soon  as  they  fell  into  the  soldiers'  hands  ;  and  the 
whole  colony  was  bled  worse  than  before  ;  it  was  Dr. 
Sangrado  in  office,  without  even  replacing  the  vital 
fluid  he  drew  with  warm  water. 

The  reforms  promised  were  important  and  exten 
sive,  too  much  so  for  their  execution  to  be  believed 
other  than  a  delusion.  Restrict  the  powers  of  the 
religious  orders — this  to  be  done  by  the  Most  Catho 
lic  of  Monarchies  !  Let  the  Philippines  be  properly 
represented  in  the  Spanish  Oortez  (Congress) — Lord 
North  would  sooner  have  greeted  a  Quaker  or  a  Mo- 
hegan  on  the  peers'  benches  in  the  House  of  Lords  I 
Justice  and  law  to  be  the  same  for  native  and 
Spaniard  in  the  colonies  !  Natives  to  hold  offices  ! 
what  would  the  nobles'  younger  sons  do  !  and,  most 
outrageous  of  pledges  to  be  believed  honest — the 
press  was  to  be  free  ! 

It  is  with  such  treaties  that  Satan  fires  up  his 
furnaces  ! 

Not  only  were  none  of  the  promises  put  into  fact, 
but  the  contrary  was  the  course. 

The  Captain-General,  Primo  de  Rivera3  was  called 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  9! 

home  in  order  that  a  successor  might  be  substituted 
who  would  uot  know  the  real  state  of  the  case  and  how 
the  natives,  merchants  and  foreigners  regarded  the  re 
bellion.  If  a  few  pardons  were  granted,  perhaps,  to 
traitors,  the  general  amnesty  was  never  issued.  The 
religious  orders  were  given  enlarged  power,  those 
that  caused  the  outbreak  at  the  first  being  signally 
honored.  Before  General  de  Rivera  departed,  l:e 
denied  there  was  any  agreement,  and  had  executions 
take  place  of  persons  who  had  his  own  assurance 
they  would  be  protected.  But  he  returned  to  Spain, 
to  receive  his  reward  for  this  sham  "pacification" — 
a  grand  cross  of  one  order  or  another  !  He  was  a 
"Prince  of  Peace  "  after  the  manner  of  Godoy,  be 
cause  he  had  killed  those  who  might  cry  out  against 
him  ! 

The  Filipinos  urge  these  breaches  as  grounds  for 
their  renewing  the  insurrection,  and  this  time  not  to 
be  blocked  by  words,  words  and  more  words  ! 

Aguinaldo.  whom  his  countrymen  believe  not  to 
have  any  of  the  Spanish  coin  stuck  to  his  fingers, 
must  have  thought  the  renewal  of  the  conflict  far 
from  hopeful.  He  was  on  the  way  to  Europe,  when 
the  news  reached  him  at  Singapore  that  the  Maine 
man-of-war  had  been  mysteriously  blown  up  in 
Havana  Harbor.  Familiar  with  the  Spanish,  he 
guessed  that  this  was  no  accident,  and  that  it  could 
not  be  explained  away  or  smoothed  over  with  Banco- 
de-Espana  shin-plasters  to  the  astute  Yankees.  So 
he  sniffed  the  gigantic  typhoon  brewing  and  re 
traced  his  steps.  Like  the  petrel,  he  might  gather 
his  support  out  of  the  havoc  wrought  by  the  tem 
pest  inevitably  about  to  burst  on  his  country's 
enslaver. 

In  Singapore  he  opened  negotiations  with  our 
consul,  Mr.  Pratt,  and  he  claims  that  he  was  led  on 
to  believe  that  the  independence  of  the  Philippines 


92  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

wonld  be  his  reward  if  lie  helped  the  United  States 
to  oust  the  Spanish. 

He  is  not  so  foolish,  having  extraordinary  intelli 
gence  for  one  of  his  race,  which  are  not  dolts,  as  to 
credit  a  consul  with  authority  to  pledge  his  govern 
ment,  but  we  must  acknowledge  that  when  he 
landed  in  Manila  Bay  and  found  our  Admiral  lord  of 
the  sea,  but  unable  to  drive  the  Spanish  out  of  the 
city  because  he  could  not  hold  it  down  if  it  were 
vacated,  he  might  reasonably  think  his  furnishing 
the  land  forces  desired  would  justify  even  high  pre 
tensions  for  recompense. 

When  war  was  certain,  though  not  yet  proclaimed, 
Aguinaldo  hastened  to  Hong  Kong  to  try  to  accom 
pany  the  Admiral  to  the  scene  of  strife.  This  at 
tempt  is  what  led  to  the  romantic  story  that  he  did 
so  sail  with  him  and  even  piloted  him  through  the 
inlet  into  Manila  Bay  !  It  is  as  likely  as  that  he  fur 
nished  him  with  a  chart  of  the  port,  with  the  places 
of  the  submarine  defenses  laid  down  ! — as  if  the  rebels 
would  have  been  so  far  in  the  confidence  of  the 
Royal  JSTavy  ! 

There  was  one  Filipino  on  board,  it  is  granted,  but 
it  was  an  interpreter  in  case  any  fishermen  were 
picked  up  to  be  impressed  as  pilot. 

The  only  fact  known  is,  that  after  being  about  the 
Consulate  in  Hong  Kong  most  persistently,  Agui 
naldo  and  his  cohort,  securing  a  pass  from  the  Ad 
miral,  were  shipped  by  Consul-General  Wild  man, 
who  was  always  the  Rebel  President's  good  friend,  to 
be  landed  at  Cavite,  with  what  authority  his  travel 
ing  under  the  American  flag  may  give. 

The  foreigners  thought  he  was  our  ally,  in  a  more 
or  less  humble  way.  And  the  natives,  naturally,  be 
lieved  he  had  secured  all  but  our  open  adhesion. 

It  was  gladly  rumored  among  our  men  that  the 
home  country  was  at  last  properly  roused  to  tke 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  93 

dead-lock  at  Manila.  It  was  reported  on  all  sides, 
on  the  faith  of  family  letters,  that  a  regular  army 
was  being  put  on  transports  at  San  Francisco,  that 
a  volunteer  army  was  being  raised  to  the  same  end, 
and  that  not  only  were  supply  vessels  being  chartered, 
at  least,  but  that  monitors  were  bound  for  Cavite. 
Oh,  to  have  had  ten  regiments  and  a  couple  of  field 
batteries  on  the  main  land,  then  ! 

Aguinaldo  was  intensely  active  :  he  issued,  after 
the  style  of  the  Spanish-Filipinos,  proclamation  on 
proclamation.  He  more  than  hinted  that  the  United 
States,  which  had  frightened  the  old  foe  of  his 
country  out  of  South  America,  and  the  French  out 
of  Mexico,  and  were  expelling  their  own  tyrant  from 
Cuba,  their  sister-sufferer,  was  about  to  give  them 
the  helping  hand  to  finish  the  struggle  renewed. 

He  proposed  a  Dictatorship  (himself  in  the  office) 
and  an  Advisory  Council,  until  there  was  a  free 
Philippines  !  He  forbade  farther  parleying  with 
the  Spanish,  as  their  words  only  preluded  active  de 
ception.  He  would  treat  as  spies  all  Spanish  who 
came  to  treat  with  him  unless  they  had  credentials 
to  allow  independence  and  make  a  binding  peace. 
The  Filipino  who  bargained  about  his  country  was  to 
be  hanged  and  labeled  "Traitor  to  his  Nativeland  ! " 

He  farther  decreed,  quite  with  enlightenment : 

Foreigners  are  to  be  respected  in  their  lives  and 
liberties.  This  included  Chinese,  and  even  those 
Spanish  who  had  not  borne  arms  against  the  Fili 
pinos  or  actively  abetted  the  Spanish  ;  the  enemy 
who  surrendered  shortly  was  to  be  also  shielded  in 
goods  and  person. 

Hospitals,  ambulances  and  the  like  were  to  be  re 
spected,  unless  their  guards  showed  fight.  As  for 
inf ringers  of  these  laws,  they  were  to  be  court-mar 
tialed  and  shot  if  their  acts  had  caused  bloodshed,, 
incendiarism,  robbery  or  riot. 


94  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

It  was  as  good  a  pronunciamento  as  the  Spaniards, 
masters  in  this  nigh-fainting  composition,  could 
publish. 

Thanks  to  these  utterances,  and  what  was  left  of 
the  money  before  mentioned,  General  Aguinaldo 
had  collected  a  thousand  men  in  a  week  (May  29th), 
under  his  flag,  which  is  a  red  band  above  a  blue  one, 
with  a  white  diamond  partly  showing  with  its  poir,t 
away  from  the  staff. 

They  had  no  uniform,  it  is  true,  which  matters 
nothing  where  a  man  is  prone  to  fight  in  the  Georgia 
colonel's  costume — a  shirt-collar  and  a  pair  of  spurs 
— that  is,  a  blouse  and  a  straw  hat ;  but  his  followers 
lacked  weapons.  They  had  not  even  the  machete  of 
the  Cubans. 

Admiral  Dewey  came  gallantly  to  their  relief.  Tie 
could  not  but  admire  this  rabble  which,  however, 
had  already  shaken  the  Spaniard  in  his  stronghold 
and  made  him  shrink  from  engaging  them  in  the 
marshes.  He  had  plenty  of  small  arms  and  appur 
tenances  abandoned  in  the  Cavite  arsenal,  and  he 
supplied  his  improvised  auxiliaries,  together  with 
ammunition  ;  they  were  mostly  Mauser  rifles,  and 
some  lookers-on  did  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  the 
rebels  were  now  armed  better  than  the  Americans 
would  be  who  were  hastening  over-sea  to  succor 
them. 

It  was  necessary  to  arm  them  well,  as  the  Spanish 
had  sent  the  pick  of  their  military  into  the  East 
Indies. 

Moreover,  Aguinaldo  had  certainly  been  applying 
some  of  the  Spanish  "reptile-fund  "  to  patriotic  pur 
poses,  as  a  small  steamer  arrived  from  China  carry 
ing  for  them  three  thousand  Remington  breech 
loaders  with  cartridges  complete. 

Those  who  have  seen  the  most  stolid  savage  melt 
and  break  out  into  ecstasy  over  a  weapon  of  such 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  95 

price  as  he  never  dreamt  to  possess,  may  conceive 
the  joy  of  the  insurgents  at  this  armament. 

The  Americans  began  to  be  more  cheerful  them 
selves  as  advices  came  to  hand,  showing  that,  at 
length,  supplies  and  men  Avere  on  the  long  way. 
The  Cruiser  Charleston  might  be  soon  expected,  as 
she  had  left  San  Francisco  with  provisions,  if  no 
troops. 

On  May  25th,  the  transports  City  of  Peking,  City 
of  Sydney,  and  the  Australia,  all  British,  since  we 
Had  no  merchant  reserve  to  draw  upon  in  the  Pacific, 
sailed  out  of  the  Golden  Gate  with  not  only  two 
thousand  five  hundred  soldiers,  but  a  year's  supply 
of  food,  with  naval  stores,  and  the  peculiar  ammuni 
tion  for  the  machine  and  other  complicated  ship 
guns. 

If  the  Filipinos,  armed  at  last,  were  not  affected 
by  this  good  intelligence,  they  were  inspired  into 
making  short  work  of  their  long-time  foe.  In  the 
night  of  the  26th,  General  Aguinaldo  sent  five  hun 
dred  of  his  choicest  irregulars  over  Bakor  Creek, 
which  is  to  the  southward  of  Old  Cavite,  in  order  to 
separate  the  Spanish  garrison  there  from  another 
troop  at  the  Powder  Magazine.  The  Americans  could 
follow  the  movement  in  a  measure  as  the  Filipinos, 
like  our  Southwestern  savages,  use  fire-pillars  by  day 
and  smoke-columns  by  night  as  a  mode  of  signaling. 
In  this  case,  to  give  the  heated  vapor  a  shape,  they 
used  a  stove-pipe,  on  the  beach,  the  stopping  of  the 
fumes  being  managed  by  clapping  a  hat  over  the 
orifice. 

The  five  hundred  succeeded  in  making  prisoners 
of  all  the  soldiers  on  the  shore,  except  at  Old  Cavite, 
better  protected  by  the  Old  Church  and  the  strong 
walls  of  other  ecclesiastical  buildings.  The  ancient 
Spanish  were  no  "  jerry  "  builders  :  they  used  such 
good  mortar  that  in  places  one  may  see  it  firm  in 


96  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

the   chinks,  while  the  stone  has  crumbled  away  in 
course  of  time. 

It  was  said  that,  for  a  novelty,  the  Spanish  were 
housed  fairly  and  treated  better  than  ever  before  in 
the  guerrilla  warfare  of  the  islands.  American  in 
fluence  was  already  ameliorating  conditions. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SUCCESS  OF  THE  REBELS. — AX  AMUSING  EPISODE. — 
BULLYING  AND  BACKING  DOWN. — THE  PEACE. — 
DISAPPOINTMENT  TO  THE  INSURGENTS. 

HANGING  back  from  assaulting  Old  Cavite,  the 
rebels  gradually  drove  the  enemy  into  the  improvised 
fort  of  the  church  there,  and  sat  down  to  besiege 
them,  hoping  to  starve  them  out. 

It  was  known,  about  the  opening  of  June,  that 
Admiral  Dewey  had  his  replacing  officer  designated 
in  Rear-Admiral  J.  C.  Watson,  who  was  en  route  to 
take  over  the  arduous  office  of  overcoming  the 
Spanish  and  dealing  with  the  insurrection. 

But  it  was  not  supposed  that  Dewey  would  quit 
until  the  Philippines  were  quieted. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  it  was  reported  that  the  in 
surgents  had  captured  2,500  prisoners.  There  was 
no  knowing  what  to  do  with  them.  The  captors 
had  a  difficulty  as  well  as  a  repugnance  to  feeding 
and  caring  for  them  ;  their  own  comrades,  hemmed 
in  at  Manila,  wanted  no  more  companions  in  misery, 
and,  logically,  they  could  not  be  "  cabined,  cribbed 
and  confined  "  on  board  the  fleet. 

On  the  head  of  this  came  the  news  that  a  thousand 
more,  harassed,  famished  and  hunted  till  footsore, 
had  also  surrendered  to  the  natives. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  97 

These  felt  "  the  embarrassment  of  " — poverty — not 
of  riches. 

Here  occurred  another  of  those  laughable  events 
which  makes  the  Muse  of  history  soften  her  stern 
features  and  wear  a  fleeting  smile. 

Our  cruiser,  the  Charleston,  as  stated,  had  left  the 
Californian  port  on  the  22d  of  the  previous  month, 
convoying  the  three  vessels  forming  the  first  Manila 
Belief  Expedition. 

On  the  20th  day  of  June  she  reached  the  Ladrone 
Islands. 

These  waters  have  their  tragic  memories,  for,  to 
•ay  nothing  of  numerous  piracies  and  cannibalistic 
feasts  on  their  coral  strands,  Magellan  was  slain  by 
the  savages  of  Samar,  and  his  expedition,  dwindled 
down  to  one  ship  and  less  than  twenty  men,  returned 
to  Spain  in  melancholy  straits. 

But  the  anticipated  resistance  was  not  encountered 
in  even  the  faintest  degree. 

The  man-of-war  steamed  into  Port  San  Luis 
d'Apra,  Island  of  Guam,  and  fired  thirteen  shells  at 
the  fortifications.  There  was  no  response,  but  two 
small  boats  put  out  from  shore  and  approached  the 
cruiser.  They  contained  the  captain  of  the  port 
and  the  health  officer,  who  apologized  for  not 
returning  the  salute,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
proper  means  were  not  at  their  disposal. 

Captain  Glass,  of  the  Charleston,  astonished  the 
Spanish  officers  by  telling  them  that  his  guns  had 
been  fired,  not  as  a  salute,  but  as  a  demand  for  sur 
render.  The  Spaniards,  like  the  master  of  the  gun 
boat  Cattao,  cut  off  entirely  from  the  outside  world, 
were  quite  unaware  that  war  had  been  declared  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Spain. 

Lieutenant    Braunersreuther,    with    a    force    of 
marines,  went  ashore,  notified  the  Governor  of  the 
condition  of  affairs,  and  demanded  his  surrender. 
7 


98  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

This  official,  Senor  Jose  Marina,  was  thunderstruck, 
He  and  his  staff  were  taken  on  board  the  Charleston, 
and  the  next  day  started  for  Manila,  after  seeing  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  waving  over  the  government 
buildings. 

The  newcomers  reported  that  two  or  more  monitors 
were  coming  to  make  Manila  a  certain  American 
stronghold. 

It  was  time.  One  Power  was  beginning  to  loom 
up  as  a  menace. 

The  German  difficulty  may  be  recounted  at  this 
page. 

Spain  had  long  ago  found  her  distant  possessions, 
with  their  dissatisfied  and  turbulent  populations, 
white  elephants  on  her  hands. 

In  1835,  her  French  creditors  being  clamorous 
under  the  reign  of  the  "Citizen-King"  Louis 
Philippe,  when  Stock  Exchange  operations  were  be 
coming  a  weighty  element  in  governmental  politics, 
she  proposed  selling  them  to  France. 

Cuba  was  offered  at  thirty  millions  of  dollars  and 
Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines,  lotted  together  as 
at  an  auction  sale,  were  fixed  at  ten  millions.  The 
French  clutched  at  the  former  prize,  to  augment 
their  West  Indian  colonies,  sadly  curtailed  by  the 
British  spoliations  in  recent  wars,  but  gibed  at 
paying  the  rate  settled  for  the  other  articles. 

Lord  Palmerston,  Prime  Minister  of  England,  was 
agreed  on  as  arbitrator,  and  he  said  that  these  were 
estimated  too  highly.  This  demurrer  offended  the 
Spanish  grandee  who  was  the  salesman  and,  in  a 
huff,  he  literally  flung  the  papers  into  the  fire,  and 
threw  up  the  negotiation. 

JSTow,  in  1 898,  up  came  a  similar  possible  escape 
from  the  dilemma.  But  it  was  obligatory  to  deal 
sharply — as  it  was  even  now  the  selling  of  a  bone  in 
the  dog's  mouth,  since  the  Philippines  were  under 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  99 

the  guns  of  Dewey.  And  the  monitors,  of  which 
the  European  navies  have  always  had  a  good  opinion 
as  harbor  defenders,  were  coming. 

It  leaked  out  that  the  Spanish  Premier,  Sagasta, 
pushed  to  do  something  to  relieve  the  tension  in 
Madrid,  where  the  Queen  Regent  threatened  to  ab 
dicate  and  leave  the  realm  between  Carlists  and 
Republicans,  wns  angling  for  the  Germans  to  inter 
vene.  He  proposed  for  five  hundred  million  marks, 
or  twenty  million  dollars  (the  price  had  gone  up  in 
sixty  years  ! ),  to  allow  the  Kaiser  Wilhelm  to  estab 
lish  a  protectorate  over  the  debatable  islands — the 
Americans  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding  !  There 
upon,  the  Spanish  would  devote  the  money  to  ef 
fectually  prosecuting  the  Cuban  War  ! 

Little  did  he  foresee  what  would  happen  to 
Cervera's  fleet  before  another  Fourth  of  July  should 
dawn. 

More  or  less  in  consequence  of  this  project,  the 
Germans  began  to  show  a  troublesome  front  in  the 
Asiatic  seas. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  looked  as  if  the  Royal  Gov 
ernment  would  soon  have  no  leg  at  home 'to  stand 
on,  while  trying  to  sell  what  was  only  nominally  in 
the  market.  The  Cortez  was  dissolved — all  was  at 
sixes-and-sevens — (not  the  Spanish  funds,  very  much 
lower  !)  and  martial  law  was  proclaimed  in  Madrid. 

In  this  month  of  June,  there  came  before  Manila, 
sixteen  hundred  soldiers  on  four  German  war-ships  of 
their  East  Asian  Squadron.  This  manifestation  was  os 
tensibly  to  protect  German  interests  in  those  waters, 
which, at  Manila,at  all  events,did  not  amount  to  a  paper 
of  pins.  Something  of  this  sort,  it  may  be  recalled, 
instigated  the  Samoan  imbroglio.  It  required  all  of 
our  Admiral's  tact,  rock-like  firmness,  inflexible 
courtesy  and  exalted  trust  in  our  manifest  destiny 
in  this  quarter  of  the  globe,  to  avoid  an  international 


IOO  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

struggle  to  which  the  brief  crushing  of  effete  Spain 
in  the  far  East  would  be  as  a  tempest  in  a  tea-pot. 

On  all  sides  were  causes  of  irritation  from  these 
interlopers.  German  officers  are  exceedingly  yield 
ing  as  regards  their  superiors,  but  they  will  show 
arrogance  and  a  quarrelsome  air  towards  strangers. 
This  has  been  prevalent  since  the  Franco-Prussian 
War. 

The  word  seemed  passed  that  bones  should  be 
thrown  out  every  day. to  have  a  casus  belli  before  our 
reinforcements,  military  and  naval,  were  actually 
landed  to  change  the  whole  face  of  the  American 
capture. 

The  German  officers  landed  in  Manila  to  be  greeted 
there  by  their  Spanish  compeers  as  though  they  were 
brothers,  certainly  sympathetic  if  not  absolutely 
friendly.  More  than  once,  after  the  blockade  was  in 
force,  the  Germans  made  a  flourish  of  saluting  the 
Spanish  flag  as  if  to  be  conspicuous,  not  to  say  soli 
tary,  as  the  British  and  the  French  did  not  notice 
it;  while  the  Japanese,  flushed  with  their  triumph 
over  the  Chinese  lifting  them  into  prominence  as  a 
naval  power,  only  once  paid  it  any  deference. 

It  looked  as  if  "the  German  officers  had  free  leave 
to  goon  shore,  carrying  news  to  their  intimates  in 
the  Spanish  trenches,  where  they  had  the  run  of  the 
place  as  if  they  intended  to  post  their  marines  there 
by  and  by. 

"The  local  press  "of  Manila  (one  official  paper) 
boldly  assured  "  their'"  readers  that  the  subjects  of 
the  Kaiser  were  allies  and  would  at  once  unmask  if 
the  "  Yankee  Porkers"  attempted  any  overt  rough 
ness  to  the  threatened  but  still  un conquered  sons  of 
the  Cid. 

The  day  has  gone  by  since  Bismarck,  asked  if 
England  and  Germany  would  ever  fight,  replied 
with  grim  humor  : 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  IOI 

"  Does  a  bull-dog  attack  a  whale  ?"  meaning  that 
England  was  unassailable  upon  the  ocean. 

The  current  talk  on  the  waters  was  ominous  as 
concerned  the  prospect  of  peace. 

The  French  sailors  openly  talked  of  the  part  they 
would  take  towards  (( the  Great  Revenge,"  nursed 
since  Sedan,  in  case  the  Germans  and  Americans 
came  to  loggerheads  ;  the  British,  with  all  that  old 
amity  tersely  put  by  our  captain  in  the  Chinese 
waters  who  said,  on  rescuing  British  seamen  drown 
ing  under  the  Chinese  forts  :  "  Blood  is  thicker 
than  water  ! "  made  no  pretense  to  withhold  signs 
that  they  would  be  ranged  alongside  the  Olympia  to 
turn  the  ram  against  the  Kaiser's  fleet ;  the  Japanese 
were  likely  to  assist  the  natives  if  only  for  a  fellow 
feeling  for  the  color. 

It  was  even  hinted,  in  this  chaos  of  contention, 
that  Japan  was  in  the  market,  too,  to  acquire  the 
Philippines  ; — such  as  we  did  not  care  to  manage  ! 

The  culmination  of  this  ferment  was  near  when 
the  German  Admiral,  Diederichs,  was  given  to  under 
stand  with  that  bluntness  which  pierced  through 
courtesy  worn  threadbare,  that  any  craft,  even  the 
German,  that  got  between  the  American  guns  and 
the  Spanish  ones,  ran  the  risk  without  farther  warn 
ing  of  being  blown  out  of  water  and  being  hurled 
more  or  less  in  an  unserviceable  condition  into  the 
Spanish  lines. 

The  German  commander  protested  that  no  offense 
was  meant,  and  said,  in  proof  of  which,  that  he  was 
lessening  the  strength  of  his  squadron  :  indeed,  he 
detached  two  or  three  of  the  lighter  vessels;  but  it 
was  a  sham  maneuver,  for  these  retired  only  a  little 
way  off,  to  Cebu,  Mariveles  and  Subig  Bay,  whence 
they  could  have  been  recalled  by  the  firing  of  cannon 
in  conflict. 

On  the  17th  June,  the  McCullough,  which  was  a 


IO2  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

perfect  Wandering  Jew  of  the  waters,  in  cruising 
ibout  Corregidor  Island,  hailed  the  German  frigate 
Irene — " Want  to  speak  you!"  But  the  other 
ignored  the  pert  little  thing,  and  would  have  con 
tinued  her  way  but  for  a  small  boat  putting  out 
to  intercept  her.  The  Irene's  captain  excused 
his  not  stopping  as  he  had  not  understood  the 
signal. 

This  Irene  was  apparently  chosen  as  a  mischief- 
maker.  She  was  wont  to  patrol  the  shore  like  a  dog 
nosing  out  a  fight. 

In  July,  she  came  upon  a  coasting-steamer  called 
the  Filipinas,  by  the  insurgents.  This  had  been  in 
the  Spanish  merchant  service,  and  owned  by  Span 
iards,  but  on  a  voyage  the  native  crew  had  mutinied, 
under  pretense  of  being  inflamed  with  patriotism, 
killed  the  dozen  Spaniards  who  officered  them,  and 
hoisted  the  Rebel  colors. 

She  had  about  half  her  cargo  in,  of  tobacco,  that 
is,  three  hundred  tons,  when  she  saw  the  German 
cruiser.  Thinking  it  an  enemy  of  some  sort,  she 
ran  to  hide  in  the  coves  of  Subig  Bay,  where  the 
Irene  ferreted  her  out.  The  Germans  threatened 
that  she  would  be  made  a  prize  of  and  sent  into 
Manila,  with  her  crew  as  prisoners,  unless  she  pulled 
down  her  unrecognized  flag  and,  at  least,  hoisted  the 
neutral  one  of  white. 

They  refused,  and  word  was  sent  ashore.  This 
was  forwarded  to  the  Americans,  supposed  to  be  the 
only  ones  authorized  by  rights  of  war  "  to  police  " 
the  coast. 

Directly  afterwards,  the  insurgents  cleared  the 
coast  around  Subig  of  the  Spanish,  who  took  refuge 
with  wounded,  sick  and  some  women,  on  the  Isla 
Granda,  near  the  mouth  of  Subig  Bay.  Here  the 
Irene  stood  in  and  haughtily  warned  the  rebels  to 
quit  hostilities  and  leave  their  prey  alone. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  103 

It  was  this  conduct  which  caused  the  insurgents, 
very  properly,  to  acquaint  the  new  American  "  Cap 
tain-General  "  at  Manila  with  the  intelligence  of  the 
upstart. 

Dewey  sent  the  Raleigh  and   the  Concord  in  Lastr 
to  the  spot,  whence  the  Irene,  nowise  desirous  to  l>f 
pinched  betwixt  them,  made  off  without  either  ex 
planations  or  excuses,  and  the  Spanish  waited  in  vain 
for  her  encouragement  in  the  future. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  while  the  thrilling  news  of 
the  destruction  of  Cervera's  fleet  at  Santiago  was  in 
the  air,  our  troops  were  landed  from  the  relief  fleet 
at  Cavite. 

The  soldiers,  who  were  received  with  lusty  cheers, 
which  also  beat  out  the  chances  of  success  in  a  Ger 
man  interference,  brought  the  tidings  that  more 
troops  were  on  the  wav,  under  command  of  a  Major- 
General,  H.  G.  Otis. 

On  the  25th  of  July,  landed  Brigadier- General 
Merritt  to  take  command  of  the  land  forces,  preced 
ing  General  Otis. 

JBorn  a  New  Yorker,  he  entered  West  Point  from 
Illinois  July  1,  1855.  He  was  a  second  lieutenant 
when  the  war  broke  out,  and  became  a  captain  of 
the  Second  Cavalry  April  5,  1862.  He  became  brig 
adier-general  of  volunteers  June  29,  1863  ;  brevet 
major-general,  October  19,  1864,  and  major-general  of 
volunteers  April  1, 1865.  He  re-entered  the  Regular 
Army  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Ninth  Cavalry 
July  28,  1866,  was  made  colonel  of  the  Fifth  Cavalry 
ten  years  later,  and  received  his  present  commission 
April  16,  1887.  He  earned  his  commission  as  major- 
general  of  volunteers  for  gallant  services  in  the 
Virginia  campaign,  and  received  his  brevet  title  of 
major-general  for  the  same  reason. 

There  was  to  be  no  farther  dilly-dallying,  although 
the  army  of  the  TJ.  S.  A.  on  foot  was  not  numerous, 


IO4  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

Nevertheless,  the  Spanish  were  undermined  with 
insufficiency  of  food,  cowed  by  the  rebels  who  had 
gradually  driven  them  all  into  the  town  or  under 
cover,  and,  perhaps — according  to  deserters'  stories, 
tired  of  the  whole  affair,  which  was  considered  des 
perate. 

Practically  all  the  Spanish  on  Luzon  were  now 
beleaguered  in  Manila.  On  the  side  not  menaced  by 
our  troops,  the  rebels  presented  an  impassable  array. 
There  was  a  joint  notice  from  Admiral  Dewey  and 
General  Merritt  that  all  non-combatants  must  quit 
the  city  within  forty-eight  hours  or  abide  the  result 
of  the  combined  attack  from  the  regulars,  volunteers 
and  blue-jackets. 

Surrounded,  and  the  inhabitants  being  on  the  verge 
of  starvation,  the  Commandant,  General  Jaudenes, 
begged  time  to  communicate  with  Madrid  and  receive 
his  final  orders. 

This  was  on  the  7th  of  August. 

The  piteous  appeal  reached  Madrid  while  Peace 
was  overcoming  the  last  ebullitions  of  Spanish  pride, 
suffering  the  sorest  blow  to  her  prestige  which  she 
had  ever  known  since  the  doom  of  the  Armada. 

Montejo's  fleet  and  Cervera's  had  suffered  the  same 
unsparing  fate.  The  home  fleet,  under  Admiral 
Camara,  had  been  a  "  flying"  one  in  full  acceptation 
of  the  title. 

Its  behavior  had  certainly  given  its  seamen  plenty 
of  change  of  air.  It  had  hovered  over  the  Spanish 
coast,  lest  an  American  fleet  should  arrive  and  bom 
bard  Cadiz,  Barcelona  or  San  Sebastian  ;  it  hud 
started  to  fall  upon  Dewey,  bnt  had  been  stopped  in 
the  gates  of  the  Suez  Canal  by  the  ignoble  plea  that 
it  should  not  pass  unless  it  paid  the  tonnage  fees  ! 
Unfortunately,  the  naval  chest  was  not  in  funds  and 
all  had  to  wait  until  the  cash  was,  by  some  desperate 
expedient,  obtained  from  the  Capital — Spanish  bonds 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  10$ 

trembling  with   paresis  !  and  then — had  to  return 
for  want  of  coal ! 

Admiral  Camara  was  like  the  king  of  nursery  lore, 
who  "marched  up  the  hill  and  then — marched  down 
again  ! " 

Commodore  Watson  was  at  the  head  of  a  flying 
squadron  collected  to  go  across  the  Atlantic  and, 
if  Camara  continued  to  head  for  Manila,  to  overtake 
him  ;  or,  if  that  failed,  to  follow  him  up  and  per 
haps  crush  him  between  his  vessels  and  Dewey's 
at  Manila.  A  glorious  consummation  but,  however 
devoutly  wished  for,  by  those  who  trusted  to  wipe 
out  the  tyrant  Spain  from  the  map  of  Europe,  where 
she  has  been  a  sanguinary  blot,  nothing  like  that 
occurred. 

Camara  moored  again  in  Spanish  waters  and  fired 
no  gun  at  the  American  colors. 

As  sailors  said,  in  their  vulgar  way  but  truthfully, 
"  Spain  had  the  sick!" 

Since  1897,  they  had  undergone  a  great  undeceiv 
ing  in  the  Old  Country. 

Then,  the  returning  General  Primo  de  Rivera  had 
been  proclaimed  "  the  Pacificator  of  the  Philippines/' 
The  rejoicing  was  great  and  Madrid  was  draped  in 
bunting  and  illuminated. 

We  have  set  down  what  the  real  terms  were,  but 
they  were  differently  stated  for  the  Spanish  people, 
All  was  tinted  in  rose.  It  looked  a  little  dubious  that 
the  organizer  of  the  Rebellion,  Rizal  the  Younger, 
had  disappeared,  but  no  importance  was  attached  to 
what  he  might  undertake  to  avenge  his  father  and 
revive  the  extinguished  flame.  At  Christmas,  1897, 
the  rebel  leaders,  Aguinaldo  at  the  head,  were  to 
sign  the  definitive  treaty  at  Lingayen  whither  they 
were  being  conducted  by  the  soldiery,  whom  the 
terms  of  peace  showed  up,  ea^cl  th§  " 
t{  in  perfect  honor  I " 


?O6  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

This  peace  with  the  Filipinos  was  to  leave  Spain 
to  devote  all  means  and  men  to  subduing  Cuba. 

A  mere  handful  of  rebels,  mainly  deserters,  it  was 
admitted,  remained  up  in  the  inaccessible  mountains, 
probably  commanded  by  Rizal. 

He,  for  one,  would  be  an  Irreconcilable  because 
of  his  talented  father  being  done  to  death. 

This  Dr.  Jose  Rizal,  it  was  now  acknowledged, 
was  a  loss  to  the  Eastern  country.  He  was  of  nearly 
pure  Castilian  stock,  handsome,  gentlemanly,  scien 
tific,  linguistic,  poetical  and  romantic,  lie  had 
written  novels  in  English  as  well  as  his  native 
Spanish,  which  latter  were  being  read  in  Spain,  with 
too  late  regret  that  he  had  been  shot  in  October, 
1896,  as  a  rebel. 

The  military,  seeing  that  this  Filipino  martyr  was 
so  deplored,  hastened  to  wash  their  hands  of  it. 
Rivera  intimated,  like  Pilate,  that  he  was  only  obey 
ing  Caiaphas  in  dealing  out  death. 

This  was  the  only  discord  in  the  notes  of  rejoicing. 

But  that  handful  of  rebels  up  in  the  mountains 
had  become  quite  an  army  now  investing  Manila, 
and  the  Parliamentary  Opposition  talked  of  inquir 
ing  into  the  whole  management  of  the  Philip 
pines  ! 

The  Queen  had  been  dissuaded  from  abdicating, 
In  addition,  she  and  the  Old  Party  had  been  per- 
euaded  to  listen  to  reason,  and  to  reason  with  the 
Americans  about  a  giving  up  of  all  the  haughty 
traditions  of  the  shattered  country,  without  a  navy 
worthy  of  the  name  ! 

Every  man  would  be  wanted  to  defend  the  throne 
if  the  Americans  were  let  continue  their  career. 

It  was  the  deadly  and  irrepressible  foe  of  monarchy 
that  was  marching  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  As 
pur  President  well  said  : 

''From  Plymouth  Bock  to  the  Philippines,  the 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  IO/ 

OTJITH!  triumphant  march  of  Human  Liberty  has 
never  paused  !" 

Once,  Spain  was  a  Republic — this  must  not 
occur  again,  said  priest,  noble  and  soldier. 

In  a  man,  "  the  first  treasure  is  Life,"  says  Dumas  ; 
in  a  realm  it  is  the  Crown. 

So  Spain  called  upon  France  to  save  her  from  the 
extremity  which  loomed  up  horribly. 

Towards  the  end  of  July,  while  Dewey  was 
sharpening  his  sword  for  a  finishing  stroke,  the 
French  Minister  in  Washington  imparted  the  desire 
of  Spain  to  learn  on  what  conditions  she  might  hope 
to  be  at  peace.  The  answer  was  speedy  and  suc 
cinct.  Without  going  into  detail,  particularly  as 
regarded  monetary  matters  like  indemnities,  Cuba 
was  to  be  handed  over  with  utter  renunciation  of 
sovereignty,  and  it  was  to  be  immediately  evacuated 
by  the  Spanish  soldiery  ;  Porto  Rico  and  all  the  re 
mainder  of  the  Spanish  West  Indian  possessions  were 
to  be  ceded  to  the  United  States  and  evacuated  by 
the  military  powers  ;  Guam  in  the  Ladroues  was  to 
be  similarly  set  aside  for  the  conquerors.  As  for  the 
Philippines,  the  United  States  were  to  retain  all  of 
Manila  and  its  vicinity  which  it  held,  while  the  treaty 
of  peace  was  to  define  the  manner  of  disposing  that 
colony  hereafter. 

Kot  a  word  was  breathed  about  the  destruction  of 
the  Maine,  the  root  from  which  sprang  all  the  blood 
shed  and  ruin  to  the  diminished  kingdom. 

These  preliminaries  were  not  kept  from  our  press, 
and  such  publicity  clashing  with  the  secret  diplo 
matic  methods  of  Europe  and  especially  of  Spain, 
she  took  offense  at  it,  but  that  was  of  no  consequence. 
It  was  submit  or  perish. 

She  stood  alone  ;  her  bondholders  wanted  some 
substance  snatched  out  of  the  wreck  to  appease 
them,  Germany  dared  no  longer  thrust  out  an  itch- 


1-jS  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

.Tig  paw  towards  the  prize  escaping  surely  from  her 
Dovetons  eyes  ;  a  little  hope  that,  in  case  of  war,  her 
subjects  in  America  would  return  to  her  allegiance 
vanished,  for  the  German-Americans,  in  numerous 
meetings,  affirmed  their  adopted  country  of  their 
steadfast  allegiance,  as  proven  in  the  Civil  War,  its 
records  adorned  by  such  names  as  Rosencrantz,  MS 
the  Revolutionary  one  was  by  Steuben  and  Pnlaski. 

On  the  instant  that  Spain  accepted  the  conditions, 
suspension  of  hostilities  was  telegraphed  to  our  com 
manders  all  over  the  world. 

This  calling  off  the  dogs  of  war  came  in  time  to 
stop  a  battle  in  Porto  Rico,  but,  though  despatched 
to  the  Pacific  on  the  12th  of  August,  did  not  reach 
there  until  the  16th. 

Napoleon  the  Great  has  said  that  a  battle  can  be 
won  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

Admiral  Dewey  has  shown  that  one  can  be  fought 
and  won  in  the  short  space  of  a  treaty  of  peace  being 
signed  and  countersigned. 

On  the  13th  of  August,  a  division  of  the  fleet 
opened  on  Malate,  and  the  southern  side  of  Manila, 
shelling  the  works  and  covering  our  trenches  through 
which  our  soldiers  advanced  and,  emerging,  leaped 
into  the  enemy's  outworks  and  stormed  them.  Eleven 
thousand  prisoners  formed  the  harvest  of  the  day. 
None  of  the  vessels  and  none  of  their  crew  received 
injuries. 

General  Merritt's  men  kept  the  foe  on  the  retreat 
until  they  were  huddled  within  the  old  city  walls, 
where,  under  the  guns  of  the  fleet,  resistance  was 
hopeless. 

Our  loss  among  the  land  forces,  some  of  whose 
fighting  was  at  close  quarters,  was  thirteen  killed 
and  forty-seven  wounded. 

General  Jaudanes  at  last  submitted  to  the  inevi 
table,  not  trying  to  adjourn  it  until  "  the  manana/' 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEV.  I OQ 

or  waiting  in  the  stereotyped  way  for  confirmation 
from  Madrid.  The  Central  Government  was  worth 
nothing  when  the  Yankees  pushed  them,  literally,  to 
the  Avail.  Our  victorious  forces  carried  their  com- 
mander-in-chief  into  the  Viceroy's  palace  where  the 
officers  came  to  lay  down  their  arms. 

After  the  precedent  of  a  Northern  soldier  raising 
the  flag  over  surrendered  Santiago,  setting  the  seal 
on  our  conquest  of  Cuba,  to  a  Southern  hand,  Lieu 
tenant  Brumby's,  of  Georgia,  was  chosen  to  hoist  it 
to  envelop  in  its  folds  the  highest  mast  of  Manila.  It 
was  a  sublimely  emphatic  token  how  the  "  Blue  and 
the  Gray  march  under  one  flag — we  have  but  the  one 
flag  now  ! — the  same  that  our  grandfathers  lifted  up." 

The  treaty  of  peace  could  come  now — peace  was, 
in  fact,  concluded. 

All  was  delight  around  the  beaten  ones  ;  the  in 
surgents  expected  that  all  their  hopes  and  wishes,  so 
long  and  drearily  cherished,  would  be  realized. 
These  hopes  were  shortly  dashed  to  earth.  For,  a 
day  or  two  later,  came  the  President's  terrible  deci 
sion  on  a  most  urgent  point  : 

"  Permit  no  joint  occupation  with  the  Insurgents." 

This  was  publicly  proclaimed  to  the  people  by 
order  of  General  Merritt.  All  the  assertions  and 
promises  of  the  agitators  were  uprooted  bv  this  de 
cree  ;  after  this,  it  was  clear  that  the  Americans  had 
the  upper  hand  and  meant  to  keep  it  high. 

Still,  whatever  the  disappointment,  there  was  no 
enmity  created  of  a  sudden.  On  the  other  hand,  on 
the  24th  August,  there  was  a  conference  between  the 
Insurrectionists  and  our  chiefs,  with  the  declaration 
from  the  former  that  they  were  still  willing  to  co 
operate  with  their  brothers-in-arms,  and  that  they 
would  surrender  their  arms — owed  in  part  to  them— 
#  they  were  assured  of  protection. 

Certain  that  this  was  a  true  submission,  General 


HO  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

Merritt  left  the  captured  city  to  respond  to  the  call 
for  him  to  attend  the  Peace  Conference  at  Paris. 

During  August,  the  peace  treaty  had  been  drawn 
up,  discussed,  edited  and  put  into  permanent  shape. 
The  protocol  had  been  duly  approved  and  signed 
by  both  parties,  and  they  had  selected  the  distin 
guished  gentlemen  to  represent  them  at  the  Congress. 

The  American  soldiers  and  sailors  waited  on  their 
arms  and  by  their  guns  in  the  two  hemispheres,  re 
gretful  for  the  most  part  that  their  work  seemed 
utterly  concluded. 

"  There  is  many  a  slip  " — of  the  dogs  of  war. 

Havoc  was  again  to  be  let  loose,  at  least  in  the 
Orient. 


CHAPTER  XL 

REFORMS  STARTLE  THE  NATIVES. — DOUBT  AND  DIS 
BELIEF.— DE  WE  Y  REPLIES  TO  IMPERTINENCE, 
AND  TO  NATIVE  IMPUDENCE. — THE  OUTBREAK  OF 
A  FRESH  WAR. 

As  we  had  determined,  none  too  soon,  to  take  the 
Philippines  in  hand,  whether  it  was  to  be  ruled  as  a 
colony  or  a  territory,  a  Commission  was  appointed 
to  make  the  people  understand  that  our  military  and 
naval  operations  had  been  wholly  directed  against 
their  expelled  foe  and  tyrant,  the  Spaniard. 

The  Commission  held  the  first  meeting  at  Manila, 
in  March,  and  issued  an  explanatory  and  reassuring 
proclamation  on  the  4th  of  April,  1899. 

To  an  ignorant  and  uninstructed  population  of 
whom  only  a  paltry  selection  were  not  satisfied  with 
daily  bread  and  an  occasional  festa,  the  new  promises 
were  incomprehensible  or  incredible. 

They  included  wonderful  words  :  Good  Will,  Hon- 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  til 

est  Civil  Service,  Free  Schools,  encouragement  of 
Industry,  lessening  of  taxes  and  their  application  to 
maintaining  the  government  and  serving  public 
ends  ;  and  so  on. 

The  supremacy  of  the  United  States  was  set  forth 
as  primary  and  unalterable  ;  hence,  the  natives  had 
only  exchanged  one  set  of  rulers  for  another,  with 
the  new  ones  untried,  except  that,  in  martial  power, 
they  were  superior  to  the  banished  Spanish. 

Self-government  was  to  come,  as  far  as  agreed 
with  American  yiews — just  what  the  removed  func 
tionaries  had  always  sung  in  Spanish. 

Civil  rights  were  guaranteed  ;  and,  yet,  the  mili 
tary  lorded  over  them  ;  merely  a  change  in  the  uni 
form  ;  the  sword  was  still  bared. 

"  Equality  before  the  law."  This  was  out  of  pos 
sible  belief.  It  seemed  to  the  merchants  of  Manila 
that,  still  as  before,  relatives  or  familiars  of  the 
principal  officers  obtained  passes  for  merchandise 
and  carried  on  a  coasting  trade  in  the  teeth  of  the 
blockaders,  which  resembled  to  a  nicety  all  that  pre 
viously  went  on  under  the  Red-and-yellow. 

It  is  true  the  old  curfew  law  had  fallen  into  disuse, 
the  one  which  allowed  no  music  even  in  a  private 
house  unless  by  special  permission,  to  be  paid  for — 
but  the  provost-marshal's  edicts  wore  a  similar  air. 

The  Civil  Service  was  to  include  the  natives  !  that 
was  so,  on  the  face  of  it,  in  other  days  ;  only,  no  one 
was  esteemed  fit  for  it  ;  "  as  far  as  practicable,"  is  a 
phrase  which  it  is  difficult  to  surmount  under  such 
circumstances. 

All  taxes  were  to  support  the  local  and  national 
government  and  provide  for  public  improvements. 
Good  !  A  while  before,  of  the  annual  budget  of  180 
million  pesetas,  two-thirds  went  to  the  Established 
Church,  while  the  rest  was  taken  by  the  Govern 
ment,  with  nothing  ever  showing  for  it. 


112  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

_  Certainly,  it  had  not  gone  for  national  defense, 
since  the  enemy  had  found  antiquated  guns  and 
crumbling  walls  ;  not  for  roads,  since  they  were 
"  corduroy/'  in  bamboo  ;  not  for  bridges,  bamboo 
again,  and  mended  by  every  one  who  came  to  cross 
the  torrents  ;  not  for  public  edifices,  for — excepting 
the  churches,  creditable  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
and  the  Spanish  authorities'  palaces— town-halls, 
theaters,  savings  banks,  insurance  offices,  these  were 
nil.  Taxes  were  eventually  to  be  reduced— it  was 
time  to  trim  the  poll-tax  especially,  as  it  bore  on  the 
day-laborer  at  a  wage  of  five  cents  a  day  ! 

Local  trade  was  to  be  furthered.  It  would  have  to 
be  created,  in  a  country  where  farm  produce  and 
garden-truck  was  forbidden  to  be  sold  ;  it  should  be 
bartered  only,  while  a  tax  in  kind  was  exacted,  this 
cess  being  sold  for  cash  in  the  market-place  by  the 
tithe-gatherers  ! 

Public  schools  were  announced,  after  the  Ameri 
can  mode,  of  which  the  Filipinos  cannot  conceive  a 
faint  notion.  All  primary  education  is  under  the  ec 
clesiastics,  confined  to  the  catechism  and  the  calendar 
of  saints  ;  there  are  no  normal  or  high  schools  ;  as  the 
rich  and  mercantile  classes  have  private  tutors,  and 
the  richest  send  their  children  to  Europe.  The 
children  go  to  school  for  an  hour  during  two  days  of 
the  week,  since  they  must  learn  to  work ;  no  writing 
at  all  is  taught  to  them.  As  there  is  no  currency  in 
the  rural  districts,  to  teach  arithmetic  were  futile. 

"Religious  freedom  is  assured/'  There  is  no 
diversity  of  creed.  There  was  a  fierce  outbreak  be 
cause  a  marriage  was  performed  by  the  chaplain, 
among  Protestants,  at  the  British  Consulate  !  The 
islanders  are  excited  against  us  because  it  was  her 
alded  that  we  came  to  burn  and  plunder  the  churches 
and  convents — the  very  buildings  which  the  Spanish 
converted  into  forts  from  which  to  impede  our  ad- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  1 13 

vance.  And  still  more  humorous,  it  is  "  Aguinaldo 
and  his  crew"  who  stipulated  in  their  Declaration  of 
Independence  that  the  members  of  religious  orders 
should  quit  their  islands  and  their  property  should 
be  confiscated  to  the  public  good.  Exactly  the  act 
of  the  Spanish  Kepublicans  when  they  temporarily 
held  power,  at  Madrid. 

It  is  true  that  the  Revolutionists  were  able  to 
point  to  the  error  in  the  Archbishop  of  Manila's  fore 
sight  when  he  assured  the  Spaniard  that  he  was  in 
vincible  and  that  Dewey's  guns  would  never  force 
him  out  of  the  Philippines. 

Perhaps,  though,  what  impelled  many  a  waverer 
into  the  opposite  ranks  was  a  rumor  that  we,  with 
our  cold,  Anglo-Saxon  morality,  came  to  curtail  the 
national  sports  and  pastimes  :  cock-fighting,  the  vice 
of  the  Archipelago  ;  bull-fighting,  the  Spanish  pet 
diversion,  and  the  Colonial  Lottery,  a  parody  of  that 
which  battened  on  Cuba  ;  in  this,  the  prizes  range 
from  $500  to  $80,000  with  portions  to  accom 
modate  the  slenderest  purse  ;  the  monthly  drawings 
were  presided  over  by  dignitaries  of  the  State, 
military  and  Church,  to  "see  fair  \" 

It  turned  over  $200,000  annually  to  Church  and 
State,  and  morally  ruined  the  people. 

The  main  part  of  our  inducements  to  accept  the 
new  yoke  was  not  understood,  and  the  rest  was  not 
believed. 

It  follows  that  Aguinaldo,  young  as  he  was — only 
thirty,  but  in  the  tropics  this  is  accounted  the 
prime — took  to  the  field  not  only  with  as  strong  an 
army  as  ever  he  commanded,  but  with  more  secret 
adherents  in  the  towns  than  ever  before. 

While,  in  August,  the  Dewey  Fleet  was  battering 
Malate  fortifications  and  our  troops  forcing  their 
way  into  the  capital,  the  insurgents,  though  in 
formed  that  they  were  not  wanted  (while  utterly 
8 


114  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

ignored  as  to  the  military  movements  in  which  they 
h:id  thought  to  cooperate)  endeavored  to  make  an 
entry  also.  Everywhere  repulsed,  and  at  the  butt 
of  the  rifle,  they  had  finally  to  be  forced  out,  though 
they  were  only  following  up  the  Spanish  whom  they 
had  kept  on  the  run  out  of  the  country  into  the 
town. 

After  the  surrender,  they  were  officially  requested 
to  quit  the  municipal  limits. 

They  assembled  at  Malabon,  and  issued  a  protest 
on  their  treatment,  from  the  re-established  Patriotic 
Congress. 

They  accused  us  of  bad  faith  ;  declared  that  we 
had  profited  by  their  beating  the  Spanish  to  strike 
the  final  blow,  and  appealed  to  all  our  authorities  to 
say  if  they  had  not  graciously  acceded  to  every  re 
quest  put  to  them  to  further  the  liberation  of  their 
fatherland. 

Their  forces  were  augmenting,  but  under  eyes 
which  had  a  great  contempt  for  them,  as  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  entertains  for  those  of  another  color.  The 
newly-landed  Western  volunteers  classed  them 
with  the  other  "yellow-bellies,"  that  is,  "Japs," 
"Chinee,"  Malays,  and  "the  riff-raff"  of  the 
Asiatic  seas. 

While  this  storm-cloud  was  thickening  on  our 
front,  Admiral  Dewey  was  perplexed  by  the  details 
which  swarmed  upon  his  administration  of  the  thou 
sand  affairs  of  the  port.  Knowing  that  his  desired 
relief  was  at  hand,  he  was  putting  things  in  order, 
like  the  faithful  steward  ;  some  of  the  anxiety  about 
reinforcements  was  removed,  but  they  came  in  so 
clraggingly. 

If  only  on  the  instant  that  news  of  his  destruction 
of  the  Spanish  Asiatic  squadron  reached  Wash 
ington,  the  national  mind  had  been  made  up  there 
that  the  Philippines  were  to  be  ours  eternally,  and 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  115 

all  the  regular  soldiers  on  foot  had  been  shipped  out 
of  the  Golden  Gate,  perhaps  the  Filipinos  would 
not  have  dared  to  raise  their  standard  against  their 
deliverers. 

Xone  seemed  to  have  a  clear  sense  of  his  situa 
tion,  needs  and  diurnal  plagues. 

One  day,  somebody,  in  a  bureau  at  the  Capital, 
cabled  him  to  know  what  he  was  collecting  so  much 
coal  for  at  Manila.  This  was  at  a  nick  when  he 
might  have  had  to  battle  for  the  prize  with  an  Euro 
pean  power. 

Prolix  was  the  inquiry  in  spite  of  the  cost ;  terse 
and  economical  was  the  reply  : 

"To  burn  I" 

Then  the  natives,  eager  to  profit  by  the  inter 
regnum,  were  assiduous  in  testing  the  mettle  of  the 
new  rulers  and  all  to  improve  their  peddling  coast 
trade. 

Smuggling  was  going  on  ;  even  an  American  did 
not  shrink  from  playing  the  traitor,  in  masking  his 
ship  under  a  false  name  and  supplying  the  rebels 
with  arms  which  would  surely,  to  the  informed,  be 
used  speedily  against  us. 

Suavity  no  longer  concealed  the  "  strength  in  the 
right." 

A  visitor  to  the  Islands,  at  this  time,  tells  an 
amusing  anecdote  of  the  new  Governor's  mode  of 
dealing  with  the  natives,  who,  cringing  and  obse 
quious  to  their  late  tyrants,  believed  that  in  the 
unassuming,  reserved  and  tranquil  Americans,  they 
had  found  the  opposite  type. 

Like  many  an  Eastern  port,  Cavite  has  no  dock 
age  facilities.  Goods  are  transferred  from  the  ships 
to  the  warehouses  by  means  of  surf-boats  known  as 
(<  cascoes."  These  are  owned  by  separate  boatmen 
or  held  in  flotillas  by  contractors.  One  of  these 
mode  an  arrangement  with  Admiral-Governor  Dewey 


Il6  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

to  carry  merchandise  and  comestibles  for  the  ship? 
to  his  vessel,  among  others.  When  he  had  finished 
his  job,  he  determined  to  present  his  bill,  which  was 
in  his  eyes  a  considerable  amount,  to  the  represent 
ative  of  Uncle  Sam,  in  person. 

To  do  the  more  honor  to  his  illustrious  creditor, 
he  arrayed  himself  in  the  court  dress  of  the  Orien 
tals,  namely,  an  old-fashioned  Parisian  evening 
dress-suit,  with  enormous  tie  in  the  style  of  1832, 
high  Grladstonian  collar,  cuffs  "shot"  well  outward 
over  his  brown  paws,  an  embroidered  white  shirt ; 
and,  literally  above  all,  a  gossamer  silk  stove-pipe 
hat.  This  had  been  the  acme  of  all  eyes  in  the 
Calle  Real  since  two  seasons. 

When  he  arrived  beside  the  flag-ship  and  was 
shown  into  the  cabin,  he  was  rather  the  more  proud 
in  his  new  feathers  by  being  confronted  by  the  ad 
miral  at  his  table,  clad  in  the  very  simple  undress 
of  light  apparel  proper  to  the  infernal  heat  and  his 
present  occupation  of  dealing  with  the  business 
matters  of  the  fleet. 

Besides,  the  naval  authority's  manners  were  cool 
and  unpretending  as  his  attire,  in  spite  of  the  reek 
of  the  powder  with  which  Montejo  had  been  anni 
hilated  still  pervading  the  atmosphere. 

The  consequence  was,  that,  on  the  errors  in  the 
bill,  all  to  the  lighterman's  advantage,  naturally 
being  pointed  out,  he  just  had  sense  enough  to  see 
that  he  must  not  presume,  as  was  the  old  method, 
to  explain  that  the  overcharges  helped  bribe  the 
auditor,  and  so  he  protested,  more  and  more  hotly, 
that  he  was  correct. 

The  reply  was  that  the  bill  would  be  paid  accord 
ing  to  the  original  agreement  without  a  cent  more 
for  fcke  after-thoughts. 

IsTow  this  was  uttered  in  so  mild  a  manner  that 
the  Filipino  became  more  arrogant — inspired  by 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  Ii; 

the  high  hat  and  high  collar,  and  insisted  upon  pay 
ment,  or  he  would  show  up  Uncle  Samuel  as  a 
delinquent. 

With  a  wave  of  his  hand,  the  admiral  put  an  end 
to  the  discussion,  observing  to  his  orderly, 

"  Drop  that  man  overboard  !  " 

The  orderly  passed  the  command  to  the  watch  on 
deck,  and  when  the  contractor  arrived  there,  assisted 
in  his  upward  flight  by  the  marine  on  guard,  the 
sailors  plumped  him  into  the  unsavory  waters  of  the 
harbor.  His  splendid  beaver  floated  out  to  the  sea, 
while  he,  a  swimmer  as  all  are  of  the  coast  islanders, 
regained  his  boat  amid  the  merriment  of  even  his 
own  people  who  had  not  applauded,  though  they  had 
envied  the  masquerader  in  foreign  frippery. 

But  other  than  laughing  matters  were  impending, 
for  army  and  the  fleet. 

The  scouts  reported  that  the  Insurrectionists, 
without  any  active  demonstration,  were  drilling  dili 
gently  and  calling  in  all  the  idlers  to  be  armed  at 
their  camp.  Calm  observers  reckoned  that  the 
Aguir.rJdoists  numbered  at  least  ten  thousand  men 
in  the  swamps  and  jungles  of  Luzon. 

No  Americans  cared  to  go  out  among  them  ;  not 
even  the  reckless  bearer  of  the  camera  venturing  his 
precious  films  within  their  lines.  Now  and  then, 
they  fired  guns  in  rejoicing  ;  they  had  cannon  of 
large  caliber  ;  many  were  well-clothed,  in  the  "  loot " 
from  Cavite  and  other  places  unprotected  since  the 
withdrawal  of  the  former  conquerors  and  the  new 
ones  keeping  to  their  capture.  War-drums  and  war- 
fifes  were  heard  as  if  some  of  the  irreclaimable 
savages  from  the  outer  islands  had  swelled  the 
ranks  ;  in  spite  of  the  rebels'  contumacy  about  the 
State  Religion,  mass  was  said  over  the  companies 
going  on  guard-mounting. 

Theae  locusts  began  to  eat  up  the  land,  and  Manila 


Il8  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

had  a  fear  of  famine  if  it  had  to  feed  both  these 
hosts,  one  in  its  doors,  the  other  just  without  them. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  not  for  the  deliverers  and 
would-be  regenerators  to  fire  the  first  shot  in  this 
new  and  still  more  painful  conflict. 

The  revolt  against  the  Americans  broke  out  in 
February. 

On  Saturday  night,  the  4th,  three  or  four  natives 
sauntered  up  and  made  as  if  to  pass  by  the  pickets 
of  the  American  volunteers  at  Santa  Mesa,  a  purlieu 
of  the  capital.  They  were  challenged,  but  either 
not  understanding  or  not  insisting,  went  away  with 
out  any  words.  But  they  tried  again  and  again  at 
other  points  ;  until,  at  the  third  trial,  their  pertina 
city  incensed  a  corporal  of  the  Nebraskas  ;  his  chal 
lenge  being  unheeded,  he  fired  and  shot  two.  One 
expired  and  the  other  was  fatally  injured. 

The  blood-feud  familiar  to  the  Filipinos  was  thus 
inaugurated,  if  not  a  war  started. 

To  the  north  of  Manila  lies  Caloocan,  near  the 
bay  shore,  and  thence,  to  the  rear  of  the  city,  ex 
tended  the  insurgents'  line,  to  Santa  Mesa.  At  the 
echo  of  these  two  shots,  others  broke  ontstragglingly 
all  along  this  line,  but  all  directed  against  the 
volunteers. 

Besides  the  Nebraska  sentries,  those  of  South 
Dakota  and  Montana  immediately  responded,  and  the 
firing  became  hot  in  the  dusk.  No  one  yielded  ; 
but  soon  came  up  reinforcements.  So  far  it  seemed 
what  military  men  call  "  an  affair  of  outposts."  Few 
imagined  that  it  signified  the  commencement  of  a 
war. 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  1 19 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  SKIRMISH  AND  A  VERITABLE  BATTLE. — ROUTING 
OUT  GUERRILLAS. — FUNSTON^S  FAMOUS  AFFAIR.— 
THE  DASH  ACROSS  THE  RIVER. — DESERTERS  FOR 
HONOR  !— "  WE  WON'T  GO  HOME  !  "—A  TRAITOR 

OF   OUR    BLOOD. 

INDEED,  there  was  nothing  much  done  but  the 
firing  of  desultory  shots  up  to  nine  o'clock,  when, 
entirely  unanticipated,  with  the  dash  of  prairie 
Indians,  the  Filipinos  sprang  out  of  the  canebrake 
at  a  hundred  gaps,  flitted  over  the  savannah  (prairie) 
like  phantoms  and  hurled  themselves  on  the  sentinels. 
The  abruptness  almost  carried  them  through  here 
and  there,  only  to  meet  comrades  coming  up  at  the 
cry  of  "Here  they  are,  boys!5'  The  charge  had 
been  heard  and  understood  at  the  rear,  for  the  shaken 
out  guard  was  promptly  reinforced.  Overhead,  the 
artillery  joined  in,  to  drive  the  audacious  assailants 
back  into  their  lairs. 

Repulsed,  but  apparently  still  bold,  the  insurgents 
foil  back,  but  only  to  gather  at  three  points,  whence 
the  firing  was  handsomely  maintained  for  irregulars. 

This  was  the  cue  for  "Dewey's  ships,  running  up 
the  channel  as  close  in  as  their  draft  allowed,  to 
open  shell-fire  on  the  three  consolidations,  namely, 
Caloocan,  Santa  Mesa,  and  Gagalangin.  The  firing 
on  all  parts  was  kept  up  until  early  in  the  morning. 

Many  of  the  shells  fell  into  the  high  grass  of  the 
marshes  and  were  smothered  at  exploding  ;  "  The 
dirty  beggars,"  said  a  volunteer,  "are  getting  a 
mud-bath!" 


120  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

In  the  early  hours,  Colonel  Duboce  and  the  First 
Californian  Volunteers  made  a  diversion  against 
Paco,  a  suburb  to  the  west  of  the  town,  where  the 
insurgents  had  fortified  the  church  as  a  fastness,  and 
repelled  the  first  assault  ;  but  a  second  was  more 
successful,  the  Americans  clearing  the  sanctuary  of 
the  desecrators  and  pursuing  them  with  the  bayonet 
at  the  loins,  while  the  edifice  burned  behind  them, 
fired  by  a  dropped  cartridge.  Some  twenty  of  the 
fugitives  were  killed  and  more  than  twice  that 
number  taken  prisoners. 

Nobody  doubted  now  that  the  followers  of  Agui- 
naldo  had  cast  off  the  mask  and  meant  to  do  battle 
with  us  as  strenuously  as  they  had  with  the  vanished 
oppressors.  The  cry  of  "  Down  with  the  Yankee 
hogs  ! "  joined  that  "  Death  to  the  tyrants  ! "  used 
to  cover  the  ex-conquerors. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  a  true  battle  was  waged  ii 
order  to  break  the  backbone  of  this  ominous  dis 
content. 

There  were  as  many  as  twelve  thousand  men  in 
array  on  either  side. 

If  you  sail  to  the  north,  along  the  bay  from 
Manila,  you  come  to  an  inlet  known  as  Malabon 
River.  Entering  a  lagoon,  Malabon  and  Caloocan 
will  be  found  due  east  on  the  farther  shore.  The 
center  of  the  United  States  forces  was  here  con 
fronted  by  the  enemy  with  its  center  at  Novaliches, 
northeastwardly.  We  had  five  regiments  of  infantry 
representing  the  Army  ;  the  Utah  Artillery  and 
three  other  batteries ;  while  the  volunteers  hailed 
from  "Wyoming,  Nebraska,  which  had  had  its  "  bap 
tism  of  fire/'  South  Dakota,  Oregon  and  Minnesota, 
with  Pennsylvania  to  stand  for  the  East ;  the  Colo 
rado  boys  were  present.  Those  who  had  made  a 
laugh  course  through  Manila,  even  while  the  cannon 
boomed  and  the  smoke  stifled,  from  the  jaunty  step 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  121 

with  which  they  pursued  the  Spanish  into  cover,  to 
the  tune  of  "  There  will  be  a  Hot  Time  in  the  Old 
Town  To-night  ! "  It  was  like  the  Irish  Brigade, 
under  General  Picton,  bursting  upon  the  French  at 
Waterloo  to  the  dancing  air  of  "  The  Young  May 
Moon  is  Beaming  !  " 

The  regiments  were  about  800  strong. 

General  Hale  commanded  the  fronting  brigade  ; 
supported  by  those  of  Harrison,  Hall,  Gray  and 
Otis,  while  Lloyd  Wheaton's  sheltered  the  rear. 

The  point  of  attack  was  Polo,  easterly  of  Malabon, 
whence  the  American  left  extended.  The  plan  was 
to  enmesh  the  foes  between  the  Bay,  where  they  had 
no  means  of  embarking,  as  our  gunboats  and  those 
captured  from  the  Spanish,  added  to  our  service, 
had  pretty  well  wiped  out  even  the  long,  narrow 
skiffs  with  outriggers. 

The  march  began  at  dawn,  on  account  of  the 
coolness,  though  the  swamp  air  is  favorable  to  ague. 

Two  brigades,  H.  G.  Otis7 — not  the  general  com 
manding,  later,  in- chief — and  Hale's,  nimbly  vacated 
the  trenches,  and  reached  the  enemy's  position  un 
observed.  Their  places  were  taken  by  Hall  and 
Wheaton,  "  keeping  touch." 

At  four  o'clock,  a  halt  was  made  for  breakfast. 

It  was  so  chilly  in  the  sea-shore  air  that  fires  were 
lighted  to  fortify  the  men  with  a  drop  of  hot  drink  ; 
the  fuel  was  not  too  dry,  and  as  they  were  watched 
for  by  a  foe  experienced  in  bush-fighting,  the  smoke 
was  soon  espied.  All  idea  of  a  surprise  was  soon 
dissipated,  for  trumpets  were  heard  ahead,  in  the 
European  style,  the  rebels  having  borrowed  the 
Spanish  clarions  along  with  loot  taken  out  of  Old 
Ciivite  and  other  captured  or  abandoned  positions. 

As  discovery  was  published,  the  advance  was  re 
sumed,  and  most  rapidly,  over  a  mile  of  rugged,  lew- 
land,  level  country. 


122  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

111  the  sandy  soil,  the  insurgents  had  easily  dug 
ditches  three  or  four  feet  deep,  banked  with  sod  of 
the  long  eel-grass,  with  improvised  abaftis  of  the 
underbrush,  cut  with  cane-knives  and  saber-bayonets. 

The  charge  was  made  by  the  volunteers,  yelling 
like  collegians  at  football,  at  the  double-quick.  Tho 
modern  and  American  style  was  in  vogue,  familiar  to 
©ur  Indian  fighters — "  Charge  by  rushes,"  Tho 
men  advance  and  fire,  drop,  eject  the  cartridge  and 
get  the  next  ready,  rise,  advance,  and  lire  ;  and  so 
on  until  the  hand-to-hand  encounter  may  begin. 

This  had  the  same  eifect  as  in  Cuba,  where  it 
puzzled  the  European  military  officers,  sent  to  dis 
cover  how  we  fought  in  "  little  wars/' 

The  cheers  and  the  firing  brought  no  shots  from 
the  natives,  singularly  well  in  hand.  It  is  known 
that  they  were  ordered  to  spare  their  ammunition, 
which  was  scarce.  At  a  thousand  yards,  they  re 
torted,  and  the  firing  was  severe  across  the  plain. 
Those  who  had  marched  beside  them,  previous  to 
the  taking  of  Manila,  said  that  they  aimed  lower 
and,  indeed,  the  dust  was  seen  to  be  thrown  up,  so 
many  bullets  ricochetted. 

But  the  Americans  continued  their  quickstep, 
still  cheering,  yelling  facetiously  as  if  it  were  in 
sport,  and  bearing  down  all  opposition  as  at  last 
they  met. 

When  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  main  body, 
the  latter  shook,  broke  and  fled  into  the  thicker 
woods.  A  few  who  stood  were  mowed  down  by 
the  volleys.  The  way  was  encumbered  by  the 
fallen. 

The  Montana  Volunteers  hastened  up,  with  the 
Kansans,  in  time  to  complete  the  victory. 

What  was  designated  by  the  correspondents  as 
"  Colonel  Funston's  (of  Kansas)  Famous  Affair  "  hap 
pened  on  April  27th.  The  enemy  had  partly  de- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  123 

stroyed  one  of  those  native  swinging  bridges  made 
of  cane,  so  that  the  colonel's  men  had  to  swim  some 
thirty  yards  to  get  across.  They  were  fully  dressed 
and  carried  all  their  accoutrements. 

It  was  on  the  Rio  Grande,  near  Calumpit,  that 
another  gallant  action,  to  show  howr  our  soldiers  can 
p;o  through  water  as  well  as  through  fire,  was  per 
formed.  Two  privates  swain  across  the  river  in  the 
face  of  the  rebel  trenches  and  fastened  a  rope  to  one 
of  the  engineers'  guiding  stakes  by  which  the  other 
soldiers  were  enabled  to  draw  a  raft  over,  carrying 
the  stores  and  impedimenta.  The  regiment  covered 
them  all  the  while  with  so  steady  a  fire  that  the 
Filipinos  were  unable  to  hinder  the  two  devoted 
volunteers. 

The  raft  landed  fifty,  who  held  the  shore  until 
joined  by  their  comrades,  at  whose  advance  the  in 
surgents  chose  to  run  into  the  wilderness.  They 
were  more  than  two  thousand  strong,  and  might  have 
made  the  crossing  more  difficult  but  that  the  daring 
deed  and  the  imposing  front  daunted  them. 

For  some  time  the  chronicle  is  of  minor  affairs  : 
advances  of  the  Americans  and  flights  of  the  rebels, 
often  without  close  firing,  followed  by  the  victors 
being  unable  for  want  of  men  to  hold  the  positions 
conquered,  which,  when  evacuated,  were  re-occupied 
by  the  fugitives.  These  were  magnified  into  "  bat 
tles"  and  accounted  by  the  Filipinos  as  successes. 
In  fact,  to  gain  time  was  all  they  could  hope,  the 
policy  of  Aguinaldo  being  based  on  the  chapter  of 
accidents. 

Meanwhile,  great  impatience  was  shown  by  all 
concerned  at  the  lack  of  celerity  in  the  movements 
at  home,  expected  to  expedite  the  relief  troops.  One 
of  the  strangest  things  ever  known  occurred  in  the 
Pacific  :  regular  soldiers  at  Honolulu  deserted  in 
order  to  stow  themselves  aboard  of  the  transports 


124 


THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 


AN  YGOROTE  -WARRIOR.  SIX  HUNDRED  YGOROTES,  ARMED  WITH  SPEARS 
OR  BOWS  AND  ARROWS,  ATTACKED  A  BATTERY  OF  AMERICAN  FIELD  GUNS 
DVRING  THE  FIGHTING  BEFORE  MANILA. 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  12$ 

sailing  for  the  Philippines.  They  knew  they  were 
breaking  the  severe  military  code,  but  hoped,  as  they 
fled  merely  to  report  "Ready  for  duty"  in  the  face 
of  the  enemy,  that  they  would  be  forgiven  ! 

In  another  case,  at  Cuba,  men  whose  time  of  serv 
ice  had  expired  and  who  were  ready  to  embark  to 
go  to  Tennessee — and  sweet  is  the  prospect  of  home 
to  a  veteran  completing  hard  service  under  an  un 
congenial  sun  !  they  held  back  from  abandoning 
their  comrades,  knowing  they  wanted  strengthening, 
and  resolutely  went  on  shore  again  to  share  the  sleep 
in  the  dank  trenches — perhaps,  the  sleep  which 
knows  no  waking  till  the  Last  Trump. 

Towards  the  close  of  August,  the  Revolutionary 
Government  held  an  extraordinary  session  at  Tarlac, 
with  Aguinaldo  merely  the  President ;  a  rumor  gave 
out  that  he  had  constituted  himself  Dictator.  His 
Cabinet  was,  on  the  whole,  conservative  :  the 
speeches  were  not  very  incendiary.  The  main  busi 
ness  was  to  procure  money  by  some  means  becoming 
a  government.  It  was  decreed  that  all  foreigners 
should  be  registered,  and  as  all  business  of  the  native 
rule  is  transacted  under  stamps,  here  was  one  new 
supply  created. 

This  petty  Congress  replied  to  the  American  pro 
posal  of  an  autonomous  government.  They  refused 
it  with  sovereignty  of  the  alien  on  the  grounds  that 
the  Americans  could  not  be  trusted.  They  had  Feen 
at  the  first  that  they  did  not  like  them — were  even 
opposed  to  them,  through  race  prejudice.  Later, 
the  high-handed  proceedings  of  American  officers 
had  confirmed  their  ill  opinion  of  us. 

All  the  officers  returning  from  the  scenes  of  blood 
shed  united  in  the  opinion  that  the  Aguinaldos,  if 
not  the  whole  population  of  our  acquisition,  were 
false,  and  ought  to  be  whipped  into  a  lasting  sub 
mission. 


126  THF,  ^IFE  AND   CAREER 

Nothing  serious  could  be  done  in  this  direction 
until  the  Kainy  Season  should  be  over,  and  light 
infantry  and  cavalry  could  traverse  a  country  pre 
senting  obstacles,  but  not  more  impracticable  than 
those  our  cavalrymen  had  overcome  in  pursuing  the 
Apaches  in  the  Arid  Region. 

In  September  it  was  proven  before  a  court-martial 
that  one  American  had  let  sordid  gain  distract  him 
from  the  proper  course  when  his  countrymen  were 
in  warfare. 

The  investigation  denounced  one  F.  L.  Plummer, 
an  American  resident  at  Manila,  for  chartering  a 
steamer  which  proceeded  on  several  mysterious 
voyages,  not  amicable  to  the  acquirers  of  the  island 
of  Luzon. 

The  steamship  had  been  cleared  regularly  from 
Manila  for  Fasacao,  with  Mauricio  Reyes  as  captain, 
and  Plu miner's  agent,  Ayala,  on  board.  The  captain 
was  ordered  not  to  lower  the  American  flag,  and  to 
carry  no  troops  of  any  kind.  Ayala  had  the  flag 
taken  down  after  the  steamship  left  Manila  and  dis 
played  the  Filipino  emblem  on  arrival  at  Pasacao,  in 
the  Carolines. 

At  Nueva  Caceras  rifles  were  removed  from  the  coal, 
and  the  steamship  towed  a  schooner  loaded  with  200 
insurgent  troops  to  the  island  of  Catandunes.  On 
another  trip  a  revolutionary  officer  and  his  orderly 
were  taken  as  passengers,  no  mention  of  their  pres 
ence  appearing  on  the  log. 

The  steamship  was  seized.  The  board  determined 
that  the  seizure  was  a  lawful  one,  and  General  Otis 
advised  the  War  Department  that  he  had  ordered  the 
sale  of  the  vessel  at  public  auction. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  I2/ 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

OUR  COMMISSION  CALLED  HOME. — EACH  DAY  AN 
EVENT. — CATCHING  A  "TARTAR." — PORAC  AND 
BAKOR.— THE  SIGNAL  SERVICE. 

THE  Philippine  Commission  was  recalled  in  Sep 
tember  ;  it  looking  as  if  the  iron  hand  would  be  used 
without  any  diplomatic  glove.  The  troops  of  which 
the  time  was  finished  were  returning  also  by  every 
transport,  but  others  were  coming.  The  available 
force  was  being  augmented,  that  was  clear. 

In  this  same  month,  a  new  native  police  went  upon 
duty  in  Manila ;  as  civilians,  they  carried  clubs,  but 
as  semi-military,  they  had  revolvers  ;  disorder  was 
prevalent,  as  the  places  for  drinking  were  increased  in 
number  for  the  reception  of  so  many  soldiers  and 
sailors.  The  city  wore  a  cosmopolitan  appearance, 
our  own  newcomers  becoming  used  to  seeing  the 
natives,  the  women  smoking  cigarettes,  the  priests 
and  nuns,  who  left  their  hiding-places  since  the 
captors  terrified  their  antagonists  into  silence  and 
reserve  ;  and  the  Sulus  and  other  •"  pirates  "  from 
the  outer  islands. 

Lingua  franca  began  to  be  talked  among  the 
traders  and  the  Americans,  who  were  good  custom 
ers  on  getting  their  pay. 

Every  day  there  was  exciting  news,  the  rebels  con 
tinuing  active.  A  party,  on  shore  by  San  Fernando, 
lured  ashore,  where  she  got  fast,  the  coasting  steamer 
Saturnus,  belonging  to  the  Compania  Maritima. 
Thereupon,  a  masked  battery  of  three-inch  guns 
was  opened  on  her  and  the  crew  and  passengers 


12$  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

made  no  resistance,  although  her  cargo  and  a  cash- 
box  were  known  to  be  valuable.  The  insurgents 
hastened  to  remove  the  persons  in  their  way,  but 
merely  making  them  prisoners,  as  they  were  of  their 
own  race  or  friendly  Spanish.  To  their  joy,  they 
found  at  the  first  search  nearly  $50,000  in  cash, 
while  the  merchandise  was  desirable.  They  were 
soon  transferring  this  to  the  shore  in  their  cascoes. 
Dropping  the  anchors  so  that  the  steamer  could  not 
budge,  they  set  fire  to  her  before  even  they  had  com 
pletely  lightened  her. 

The  column  of  smoke  unluckily  attracted  the  at 
tention  of  a  Spanish  gunboat  captured  and  added  to 
our  navy.  This  cutter,  the  Pampanga,  named  from 
a  locality  in  the  bay,  hastened  to  the  spot  and,  as 
the  water  shoaled,  put  out  a  small  boat  to  inquire 
into  the  supposed  disaster.  But  on  its  approach  the 
pirogues  were  seen  still  transporting  the  goods  to 
the  beach,  and  it  was  feared  that  murder  waited  on 
the  wholesale  robbery.  The  gunboat  began  firing  on 
the  battery  in  the  sand  and  at  the  natives,  who  used 
Mausers  and  Remingtons  in  trenches  on  the  sailors. 
It  was  soon  ascertained  that  it  was  simple  robbory 
and  incendiary  mischief  ;  for  the  crew  and  passengers 
were  seen  on  the  shore  among  their  captors. 

Nothing  could  be  done  to  free  them,  as  the  natives 
retired,  and  the  hull  was  left  to  burn  itself  out. 

The  taking  of  Calambon  serves  as  a  type  of  the 
encounters  which  enlivened  a  campaign  without 
profit  towards  the  general  subjugation. 

Major-General  Henry  W.  Lawton,  of  the  Volunteer 
Army,  had  this  movement  in  his  hands.  The  place 
was  seat  of  the  insurgents'  most  important  gathering. 

A  light  gunboat  assisted  in  the  advance  of  our 
thousand  men  comprising  a  squadron  of  the  Fourth 
Cavalry. 

The'U.  S.  gunboat  captured  theKebel  Navy — that 


•v, 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  129 

is,  an  armed  tug,  though  the  fugitive  crew  succeeded 
in  stripping  her  of  all  light  articles  and  carrying 
them  ashore  where  they  purposed  standing  off  the 
assailants.  Capt.  M'Grath  of  the  U.  S.  Cavalry 
commanded  his  men,  and  the  company  of  infantry 
taking  the  van.  To  reach  the  town  they  had  to 
cross  a  river  too  deep  to  ford  ;  to  set  the  example, 
he  and  Lieutenant  Batson  plunged  in,  like  Horatius, 
fully  armed,  and  crossed  in  order  to  bring  back  a 
boat  seen  over  the  way.  The  lieutenant  nearly  lost 
his  life  from  his  gaiters  getting  loose  and  fettering 
his  movements,  but  as  it  was  inshore,  where  his 
comrade  stood  on  firm  land,  he  was  instantly  helped 
to  the  same  solid  footing.  Then  the  pair  returned, 
pushing  the  scow,  and  the  soldiers  immediately  fol 
lowed  and  secured  a  lodgment.  During  the  capture, 
Mrs.  General  Law  ton  was  in  a  boat  in  the  bay  ;  the 
sharpshooters  on  shore  frequently  hit  the  gunwale 
but  no  one  was  hurt.  The  general  expressed  satis 
faction  at  the  way  the  vanguard  had  acted,  saying  : 

"You  of  the  cavalry  did  the  whole  thing  !  * 

After  the  soldiers  had  crossed,  the  resistance  was 
feeble.  In  the  headquarters  was  found  the  engine- 
fittings  and  other  .brass  and  metal  work  out  of  the 
captured  tugboat.  The  Americans'  coming  liberated 
a  dozen  Spanish  prisoners,  who  embraced  them  in 
the  street,  to  the  amusement  of  the  spectators,  un 
accustomed  to  these  manifestations  of  joy  in  the 
Latin  race. 

The  retreating  forces  could  not  be  followed  with 
so  few  men  to  hold  the  town,  as  usual. 

A  notable  incident  at  Hong  Kong  evinced  how 
nearly  we  were  to  international  complications  at  any 
unexpected  moment. 

The  first  intelligence  of  our  transport,  the  Tartar, 
hired  from  English  shipowners,  being  detained   at 
that  port,  because  she  was  in  contravention  of  the 
9 


130  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

British  mercantile  regulations,  caused  a  stir.  It 
looked  like  a  hostile  manifestation  from  the  Anti- 
American  clique  said  to  pervade  that  port  and  to  be 
busy  in  slandering  us  in  our  new  sphere  of  action. 

The  Tartar  flew  the  British  ensign,  so  that  the 
port  authorities  had  full  standing  to  inspect  her, 
though  she  was  carrying  our  invalided  and  dis 
charged  soldiers  and  seamen. 


FILIPINO  SOLDIERS. 


The  complaint  was  that  she  was  overcrowded  with 
some  four  hundred  passengers  in  excess  among  the 
fourteen  hundred  aboard.  Also  that  there  were  not 
half  enough  boats,  or  the  means  to  make  life-saving 
contrivances,  such  as  rafts,  for  the  soldiers,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  stock  of  life-preservers,  which  should 
have  been  supplied  one  to  a  head,  being  shamefully 
insufficient.  As  for  the  British  flag,  it  was  urged 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  13! 

that  an  American  transport,  the  Indiana,  might 
have  been  chosen  instead  of  the  foreign  one,  at 
Manila,  a  hint  being  offered  that  there  was  corrup 
tion  somewhere. 

The  Hong  Kong  port  officers  were  so  undeniably 
correct  that  their  contention  had  to  be  yielded  to, 
and  while  the  United  States  officials  debated  the 
question  of  the  overcrowding,  the  life-preservers 
demanded  were  forwarded  and  the  other  appliances 
supplied,  so  that  the  Tartar  might  resume  her  voyage. 

The  side-issue  from  this  revelation  of  bad  manage 
ment  in  the  transport  service  was  seen,  shortly  after, 
in  an  order  under  which  all  our  seamen  in  the  navy 
would  have  a  life-preserver  individually. 

Towards  the  end  of  September,  some  anxiety  was 
felt  at  the  silence  of  the  Aguinaldos  as  regarded 
several  of  our  men  held  as  their  prisoners. 

The  light  craft  captured  from  the  Spanish  and 
turned  over  to  our  navy  had  been  merrily  named  the 
"  tin-clads,"  but  they  did  yeoman's  service  in  the 
lagoons  and  estuaries  where  none  of  our  deeper 
vessels  could  go.  The  Urdaneta,  one  of  these,  was 
captured  by  the  insurgents  with  an  officer  and  nine 
or  ten  of  the  crew,  but  regained  later. 

On  the  28th  hist.  Porac  was  taken  by  General  Mac- 
Arthur,  but  evacuated  the  next  day — "  Want  of  men 
to  hold  it,"  again  !  The  fighting  had  been  sharp, 
four  non-commissioned  officers  being  wounded. 

At  the  beginning  of  October,  near  Bakor  (or, 
Bacoor),  there  was  a  l<  scrimmage,"  as  a  skirmish 
is  facetiously  called  by  "  the  boys  in  blue/'  in  which 
a  first  lieutenant  and  one  of  the  signal  corps,  Cap 
tain  McKinney's,  were  wounded.  It  might  seem  odd 
that  a  telegraphist  should  be  under  fire,  but  this 
happens  not  infrequently  at  the  present  day.  In 
former  times,  when  intelligence  was  borne  by 
mounted  aids  from  the  generals  to  the  colonels,  there 


132  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

were  many  of  theprancing  cavaliers  familiar  in  paint 
ings.  But  all  this  is  changed.  Instead  of  a  gallant 
aide-de-camp  restraining  his  mettlesome  charger 
before  the  commander-in-chief,  a  man  sits  at  his 
tripod-table,  on  which  is  the  "ticker."  At  the 
other  termination  is  a  similar  stand  and  instrument, 
ready  to  send  off  despatches  and  receive  them  almost 
before  the  events  related  have  dried  on  the  page  of 
history. 

A  military  telegraphic  operator  thus  vividly  de 
scribes  the  novel  employment  : 

"  It's  a  saying  that,  let  a  soldier  cross  a  swamp  or 
swim  a  river,  the  second  man  over  is  the  signal  serv 
ice  operator,  sending  back  a  report  of  how  it  was 
done.  If  there's  an  advance  of  half  a  mile  by  the 
firing  line,  the  wire  has  been  brought  up  and  cut, 
the  instrument  attached  and  an  operator  is  seated 
at  his  little  table  sending  despatches. 

"The  signal  service  men  at  the  front  work  on 
the  line  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  enemy 
sitting  at  the  little  table  sending  despatches,  or 
receiving  orders.  Oh,  they  shoot  at  you  all  ri.^ht 
enough.  Often  they  get  in  behind  and  cut  the  wires. 
Some  have  been  shot  while  climbing  the  poles.  The 
colonels  and  regimental  officers  are  always  right  at 
the  front,  and  brigade  headquarters  from  one-half 
mile  to  one  and  a  half  miles  in  the  rear.  The  opera 
tives  take  turns  at  the  front. 

"Nearly  everything  in  the  signal  service  is  tele 
graphy.  Once  in  a  great  while  the  flags  were  used, 
but  only  where  we  couldn't  use  the  wire.  That 
wasn't  often,  for  we  waded  through  swamps  up  to 
the  chest,  dragging  the  wire  after  us.  There's  no 
dashing  about  of  couriers  and  orderlies  carrying 
orders,  as  there  was  in  the  Civil  War.  The  telegraph 
does  every  thing." 

A  captain  of  this  branch  was  killed  on  Xegros. 


OF   ADMIRAL   t)K\YKy.  133 

Two  attacks  were  made  by  the  expelled  insurgents 
on  Calamba,  although  it  was  held  by  two  companies 
of  the  21st  Infantry,  but  they  were  beaten  off  with 
a  loss  of  sixty  killed  and  many  wounded;  our  loss 
was  two  killed  and  seven  wounded.  An  outpost  of 
four  Americans,  at  Guagua,  had  two  of  them  killed 
by  the  bush-fighters. 

At  the  same  time  the  gunboats  were  busy.  The 
United  States  gunboat  Vrdaneta,  of  which  we  have 
related  the  capture,  was  recovered  by  a  special  rescu 
ing  expedition,  frightening  off  the  captures  and  find 
ing  that  she  could  be  refitted  as  good  as  new.  There 
was  no  time  given  for  the  enemy  to  get  her  off-shore 
or  to  fire  her. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CLEARING  FOR  THE  ADVANCE. — DEFEAT  AT  NO- 
VALETA. — NAVY  AND  ARMY  CLASH. — PLOTS  AND 
COUNTERPLOTS. — DEWEY  DEPARTING  ! 

CAPTAIN  POORE  with  the  6th  Infantry  was  scour 
ing  the  country  to  repress  the  guerrillas  and  bring 
in  arms,  which  were  a  sore  temptation  for  the  peas- 
ants  to  join  the  irregulars. 

He  broke  up  one  band,  at  Negros,  with  the  loss  of 
his  lieutenant,  but  killed  twenty,  with  two  of  the 
leaders,  and  gained  a  dozen  excellent  rifles.  The 
insurgents  not  only  reoccupied  the  places  stormed 
but  retired  from,  but  seemed  gathering  to  cut  the 
Manila-Dagupan  railroad,  about  at  Mexico,  a  vil 
lage. 

West  of  the  Bakor  and  the  Imus  rivers,  they 
harassed  the  American  line  of  communication  ;  they 
retired  before  the  regular  cavalry  which  should  have 
been  increased  a  hundredfold  to  suppress  these 


134  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

raids,  so  wearying  to  our  sentinels  and  picket- 
guards. 

General  Fred  Grant,  with  five  companies  of  the 
regular  foot  regiments,  proceeded  to  punish  the  in 
truders  on  our  limit  at  the  Inus,  and  cleared  away 
all  molesters,  at  a  cost  of  three  wounded  ;  the  others 
lost  ten  killed  as  they  retreated  over  the  west  bank. 
The  church  at  Binicaya  was  utilized  as  a  fort,  ac 
cording  to  the  sacrilegious  usage  of  the  Filipinos, 
but  they  were  driven  out. 

The  5th  Artillery  raced  out  of  Bakor  and  shelled 
the  west  bank  of  the  river,  which  remained  clear  to 
Americans. 

Over  this  way,  on  the  8th,  marched  a  strong 
column  under  General  Schwan,  cavalry,  artillery  and 
regulars,  to  investigate  the  strength  of  the  hostile 
position  at  Old  Cavite  and  farther. 

The  inhabitants  were  cowed,  and  hung  out  the 
white  flag  wherever  it  might  save  their  cabins  from 
a  shot  of  the  scouts. 

The  rebels  had  a  way  of  turning  these  huts  into 
rifle-pits  when  they  were  too  lazy  to  dig  trenches. 

The  naval  vessels  and  marines  at  Cavite  made  a 
demonstration  to  divert  the  foe  from  this  advance 
upon  them,  towards  Old  Cavite. 

Here  there  was  a  struggle  for  half  an  hour  as  the 
insurgents  had  entrenched  themselves  so  strongly 
that  it  required  the  shot  of  Reilly's  battery  to  dis 
lodge  them  ;  the  foot  soldiers  then  poured  in  upon 
them  and  the  cavalry  completed  the  rout.  They  did 
not  stop  in  going  through  ISTovaleta,  which  was  ut 
terly  deserted  when  the  victors  rushed  up. 

Three  gunboats  shelled  this  town  and  Santa  Cruz 
to  enable  the  marines  to  proceed  in  support. 

The  enemy  had  entrenched  the  narrow  road  over  a 
morass,  and  it  was  difficult  to  march  direct  ;  a  flank 
movement  carried  the  marines  through  the  swamped 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  135 

rice  fields  and  allowed  them  to  force  the  foes  out  of 
cover.  These  destroyed  a  bridge  and  went  to  throw 
up  earthworks  in  the  sand  hills  and  palm  scrub  on 
the  farther  side  of  the  creek  dividing  the  peninsula 
from  Cavite  to  Xovaleta. 

Again  the  swamp  and  submerged  fields  were  waded 
across  and  these  improvised  forts  were  carried,  the 
garrison  being  astounded  at  so  much  persistence. 

Squads  of  the  volunteers  and  regulars  cleared  the 
roadside  of  nests  of  sharpshooters,  and  finally  united 
with  the  scouts  who  were  beating  the  swamps  be 
yond. 

Rosario,  a  sea-coast  town  with  considerable  popu 
lation,  received  the  conquerors  with  white  flag.?,  if 
with  little  enthusiasm  ;  if  any  of  the  fugitives  pre 
tended  to  join  in  this  reception,  they  had  thrown 
away  their  guns  and  donned  fresh  clothes.  Some  of 
the  fugitives  were  caught  in  the  act  of  divesting 
themselves  so  as  not  to  be  considered  guerrillas,  and 
were  made  prisoners,  though  the  French  and  other 
European  soldiers,  in  such  warfare,  would  have  shot 
such  offhand. 

A  three-pounder  was  used  as  the  field-gun  in  this 
advance. 

Cavalry  Captain  McGrath  was  badly  wounded  and 
Lieutenant  Saffold  of  the  13th  Infantry  killed.  The 
latter  was  a  graduate  of  the  Military  Academy  in 
the  class  of  1879.  He  was  born  in  Selma,  Ala.,  on 
September  1,  1856.  He  participated  in  the  campaign 
against  the  Apache  Indians  in  ]STew  Mexico  and  Ari 
zona  and  took  a  creditable  part  in  the  campaign 
against  Santiago.  In  April  last  he  went  to  the 
Philippines. 

In  whatever  direction  a  reconnaissance  turned,  it 
ran  up  against  a  rebel  force  which  at  least  exchanged 
shots  and  retreated  while  firing  at  a  distance,  the 
same  tactics  which  hadr  dispirited,  the  Spaniards  ancl 


136  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

caused  them  to  rely  more  on  "  sings  "  of  gold  than 
on  leaden  bullets. 

The  American  scouts  were  supplemented  by  a 
hundred  Macabebe  warriors,  who  did  good  service, 
although  their  homes  were  burned  in  one  of  the 
forays. 

Under  cover  of  incessant  shifting  of  positions,  it 
was  alleged  that  the  insurgents  under  General  Pio 
del  Pilar,  were  concentrating  to  assist  their  friends 
still  nearer  Manila  than  the  San  Mateo  Valley  and 
San  Francisco  do  Malabon. 

They  were  calculated  to  have  from  three  to  five 
thousand  men,  with  large  guns. 

But  the  latter  place  was  entered  by  General  Schwan 
tvithout  opposition. 

It  was  eight  months  since  the  Tagalos  had  been 
expelled  from  Manila  as  "a  disorganized  mob/'  and 
yet  it  was  not  safe  for  an  American  to  go  four  miles 
out. 

Indeed,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  9th,  in  broad  day, 
mark  !  a  body  of  the  enemy  appeared  about  the 
waterworks  and  at  La  Lonia  Church,  where  the  25th 
Infantry  were  camped.  Luckily,  they  were  en 
trenched  after  the  precautions  of  this  petite  guerre, 
and  the  insurgents  did  not  try  to  storm  the  post,  but 
fired  with  long-range  rifles,  the  balls  falling  among 
the  tents.  Before  an  hour,  artillery  had  to  be  brought 
into  play  to  induce  them  to  retire.  They  aven;rc"I 
themselves  by  threatening  to  injure  the  railroad 
and  telegraph,  which  kept  up  the  strain  on  our 
guards. 

The  Filipinos  used  artillery  at  Angeles,  where  an 
American  was  killed,  but  the  shells  were  imperfect 
and  fell  without  exploding. 

There  was  much  disappointment  among  our  friends 
and  supporters  at  the  capital,  since  this  taking  and 
retaking;  of  towns  might  go.  on  to  an  indefinite  ex- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  137 

tent.  Manuscript  quips  circulated,  likening  our 
Commander-in-Chief  to  General  Boom,  in  the  Opera, 
whose  record  does  not  include  anything  more  bur 
lesque  than  our  capturing,  evacuating  and  retaking 
a  town  six  times  ! 

Nor  was  it  solely  against  the  military  authorities 
that  ridicule  and  complaining  went  up. 

There  was  friction  between  the  Admiral  and  Gen 
eral  Otis,  the  new  Governor-General,  as  the  latter 
pronounced  the  port  closed,  although  without  the 
help  of  the  navy  it  would  be  but  a  closure  on  paper  ; 
and  more,  tried  to  keep  out  smugglers  with  a  fleet 
of  steamers  converted  into  cruisers  by  putting  guns 
aboard,  which,  with  a  full  charge,  would  probably 
send  them  to  the  bottom. 

Admiral  Dewoy  had  perceived  no  value  in  the 
Archipelago,  while  certain  that  we  would  be  amply  in 
demnified  for  our  outlay  and  exertions  by  the  reten 
tion  of  Manila  and  its  magnificent  bay  as  a  naval 
station.  Without  consultation  with  him,  the  Cab 
inet  had  resolved  to  make  the  whole  assemblage  of 
islands  and  islets  territory  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  while  the 
farther  steps  which  brought  on  the  estrangement  of 
the  natives  and  their  rising  against  us  under  arms, 
were  contrary  to  his  purpose,  principles  and  policy. 

But  he  is  too  patriotic  not  to  pronounce  that,  once 
entered  into  the  quarrel,  we  should  fight  it  out 
quickly,  if  for  no  other  reason,  that  quickness  will 
prevent  any  foreign  power  interfering. 

As  England  goes  to  no  end  of  sacrifices  to  ward 
off  the  alien  hand  that  would  shake  her  "  pagoda 
tree,"  so  we  must  keep  our  orchard  of  spice-trees  to 
our  own  basket. 

Never  hushed  for  long  was  the  rumor  that  Euro 
pean  Powers,  goaded  on  by  traders  in  our  new  po~- 
fiessions,  and  these  backed  oy  the  consular  reports  of 
the  latent  riches  and  dormant  mineral  harvests,  woulcl 


138  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

insert  the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge  of  intervention  by 
protesting  against  a  paper  blockade. 

Kemember  that  no  fault  was  found  with  that  of 
Manila  itself,  where  the  navy  was  energetic  and  effi 
cient  ;  it  was  the  endeavor  to  guard  the  innumerable 
inlets  where  the  insurrectionists  obtained  gratifica 
tion  of  their  simple  needs. 

For  this  General  Otis  was  solely  responsible. 

The  Manila  merchants,  with  hereditary  fear  of 
speaking  out,  vaguely  talked  of  favoritism  without 
direct  accusation.  The  majority  was  dissatisfied 
with  the  new  regime. 

General  Otis,  in  fact,  was  unpopular,  even  among 
his  soldiers,  since  he  had  been  harsh  upon  officers 
who  had  not  perceived  some  petty  pilfering  going 
on  (as  was  natural  where  morality  is  so  lax),  when 
we  went  charging  through  a  captured  town,  where 
the  fleeing  Aguinaldos  certainly  had  sympathizers., 
who  would  have  given  them  the  supplies  for  which 
they  made  us  pay  dear. 

While  the  Admiral  and  the  Commander  were  at 
odds  as  regards  a  strict  blockade,  the  insurgents  con 
tinued  to  receive  all  the  goods  for  war  and  susten 
ance  which  they  could  pay  for,  at  the  innumerable 
small  ports  of  Luzon. 

This  leave  to  carry  on  a  profitable  trade  did  not 
conciliate  the  native  merchants,  for  it  was  bruited 
that  they  were  lenient  towards  a  conspiracy  within 
the  gates.  It  was  said  that  the  Filipinos  would 
make  a  rush  at  the  walls,  after  eluding  the  flimsy 
line  of  our  outlying  troops,  and,  at  tLe  same  time, 
have  the  gates  opened  to  them  by  confederates  iunide. 
These  were  believed  to  have  hidden  ample  weapons 
for  a  rising  which  was  to  come  off  on  the  15th  of 
October. 

This  precision  in  the  announcement  induced  the 
new  native  police  force  to  be  overhauled  ;  their  offi- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  139 

eers  under  suspicion  were  kept  in  quarters,  and  our 
own  controlling  force  was  doubled  in  the  watches. 

ATothing  occurred  beside  the  scare. 

As  an  exhibition  of  the  wide  duplicity  reigning  in 
the  land,  plots  and  counterplots  were  floating  in 
the  air. 

It  was  asserted  that  General  Otis  had  received  a 
message  from  the  Filipino  chief,  Piodel  Pilar,  hover 
ing  about  San  Mateo,  offering  for  a  sum  of  money  to 
abstain  from  attacking  Manila  ;  for  another  and  im 
mense  sum,  to  surrender  his  army  after  a  mock 
battle,  such  as  has  been  offered  to  explain  the  slight 
resistance  of  the  Spanish  at  Malate  before  Manila 
was  entered.  He  would,  for  another  plum,  assist  in 
crushing  the  tail  of  the  rebellion,  to  say  nothing  of 
turning  over  Aguinaldo  and  the  rest  of  the  com 
pany.  He  must  have  quarreled  with  his  President 
(this  document  being  authentic),  for  he  alluded  to 
him  in  contemptuous  words. 

The  Filipinos  declared  that  this  was  all  false  or 
written  to  deceive,  as  Pilar,  instead  of  being  a  traitor, 
was  aiming  to  rush  into  Manila,  which  he  did  not 
expect  to  occupy  under  the  naval  guns  ;  but  he 
would  make  hostages  of  General  Otis  and  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Manila,  so  as  to  bring  the  Americans  to 
terms. 

At  the  same  time,  another  plot  was  discussed  at 
the  cafes. 

Three  Spaniards  were  said  to  be  in  the  town,  who 
were  hiding  from  native  vengeance. 

They  were  comrades  in  the  Spanish  army  whom 
the  insurrectionists  had  made  prisoners  but  liber 
ated  on  condition  of  their  joining  their  standards. 
In  this  capacity,  from  their  knowledge  of  field  ar 
tillery,  they,  with  others  of  their  kind,  had  had  the 
management  of  the  guns  in  the  fighting  around  Santa, 
Rosa, 


140 


THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 


than   the  natives 


The    shooting  had   been   finer 
showed  and  this  accounted  for  it. 

These  precious  gunners,  or  drawers  of  the  long 
bow,  wanted  to  sell  out,  with  their  pieces,  to  the 
oppressor,  which  discovering,  the  enraged  Filipir.es 
fell  on  them  and  killed  all  but  three,  who  fled  to  the 
town. 

This  discovery  was  made  as  follows:  The  traitors 
delegated  one  of  the  party  to  go  to  town  and  "•  trade  " 


FILIPINO  WOMEN  IN  CHARACTERISTIC  COSTUMES. 

with  the  American  general,  who,  unless  he  were 
very  unlike  the  Spanish  commanders,  would  greet 
him  with  glee  and  hurry  to  chime  in  with  his  excel 
lent  idea. 

The  Americans  were  to  advance  and  surround  the 
battery,  upwards  of  twelve  new  pieces,  Krnpm  and 
Nordenfeldt  rapid-firers,  together  with  ammunition 
in  quantity,  made  at  Lipa,  These  were  to  fire  blank 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  14! 

cartridges  so  that  they  might  be  run  up  to  and  seized. 
The  traitors  were  to  receive  a  certain  sum  and  free 
transportation  to  Spain,,  as  they  dreaded  the  natives' 
revenge  if  they  stayed. 

Unfortunately,  the  envoy  took  three  natives  into 
his  confidence  to  a  certain  degree,  as  he  was  unable 
to  cross  the  debatable  territory  and  reach  Manila 
without  guides.  These  brought  him  safely  to  Ca- 
larnba,  within  the  American  lines,  but  were  in  turn 
timid  about  proceeding  farther.  The  delegate  there 
fore  went  on  alone  into  Manila,  where  he  had  diffi 
culty  in  procuring  the  interview  with  General  Otis. 

In  the  meantime,  the  natives  suspected  double- 
dealing  from  his  delay  and  returned  to  Santa  Rosa, 
where  the  plot  was  revealed.  Seven  of  the  turn 
coats  fell  under  the  Filipinos'  knives,  and  two 
escaped  only  to  wander  about  the  swamps  until  they 
found  a  skiff  in  which  they  ventured  on  the  lagoon. 
Happily,  the  United  States  gunboat  Napidan,  pa- 
troling  the  coast,  espied  the  boat  and  picked  the 
inmates  up. 

Brought  before  the  American  governor,  he  heard 
the  tale,  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
three  survivors,  who,  indeed,  could  hardly  go  back  to 
their  cannon,  but  promised  to  return  them  to  their 
own  country. 

As  Tarlac  was  understood  to  be  the  headquarters  of 
the  Insurrectos,  with  General  Aguinaldo  command 
ing,  it  was  imperative  to  project  our  forces  towards 
that  point.  Between  was  the  vanguard  under  General 
del  Pilar.  Leaving  San  Miguel  in  the  mid-October, 
lie  pushed  his  men  to  occupy  San  Isidro  and  San 
Fernando.  Hearing  that  the  Americans  were  ap 
proaching,  on  the  18th,  he  had  the  bridge  at  the 
letter  place  destroyed.  But  the  prime  attack  of 
General  Young,  commanding  the  forefront  of  Gen 
eral  Jjaw  ton's  forces,  was  upon  San  Isidro,  With 


142  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

one  killed  and  a  few  wounded,  the  assailants  overrun 
the  town  where  the  inhabitants  assumed  friendliness. 
A  heavier  resistance  was  encountered  at  Fernando, 
with  losses  to  the  Aguinaldos  not  known,  but  fifteen 
were  captured. 

Thus  San  Isidro  became  a  base  for  the  contem 
plated  finish  at  the  seat  of  the  Insurgent  Congress. 

The  country  between  Angeles  and  Arayat  was 
avoided  by  travelers  from  its  being  infested  by 
brigands  ;  they  had  been  annoying  our  outposts, 
also  Captains  "Macrae  and  Chyneworth,  with  bat 
talions  of  the  3d  and  17th  Infantry,  respectively, 
dispersed  them,  five  hundred  strong,  before  the 
village  of  Jose  Malinas,  and  kept  them  in  flight  to 
wards  Magalang.  This  swept  that  tract  clear. 

The  insurgents  tried  to  effect  an  exchange  of 
prisoners,  one  of  those  expedients  to  make  their 
cause  look  more  substantial  of  which  there  were 
many  instances.  This  kind  of  recognition  was 
intended  to  serve  the  rebels  who  proposed  making 
an  appeal  to  Europe  through  members  of  their  Junta. 
Regidor,  Agoncillo  and  Apacible  were  mentioned 
as  likely  to  form  part  of  the  Delegation  to  try  to 
have  an  audience  at  Washington. 

The  Southern  Insurgents  entrenched  themselves 
again  before  Calamba  and  attacked  it,  but  were 
routed  out  and  pursued  several  miles  by  General 
Kline.  The  36th  Volunteers  repulsed  the  bands  at 
Santa  Rita  with  a  loss  to  them  of  some  twenty  killed 
and  wounded.  Regulars  or  Volunteers,  it  was  clear 
that  the  enemy  could  not  stand  up  against  us  in  the 
open  ;  besides,  our  men  were  becoming  adepts  at 
ambushes  and  bush-"  whacking  "  generally. 

Our  soldiers  began  to  complain  at  tho  mode  of 
discharge  :  If  they  were  "  turned  loose  "  at  Manila, 
some  wanted  their  return  travel-money  given  them 
there,  so  that  they  might  engage  in  business,  but 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  143 

this  was  not  heard  favorably  ;  they  were  usually  so 
discharged  that  they  had  to  lose  a  month's  allowance. 

In  sum,  all  these  grievances,  the  loss  of  time  and 
men,  the  lack  of  substantial  gain  to  our  supremacy, 
formed  the  base  for  a  cry  of  recall  for  the  military 
commander. 

"  Dewey  gone,  it  will  be  chaos/'  said  the  opti 
mistic  themselves. 

And  Dewey  was  going  ! 


CHAPTER  XV. 

GOOD-BY  TO  MANILA. — INTERN  ATIONAL  HOMAGE. 
— HONG  KONG. — THE  "  YORKTOWN^S  "  CREW. — 
CALLING  DOWN  A  PORT-CAPTAIN. — A  STORY  OF 


' '  HOMEAVARD  BOUND  ! "  the  sweetest  phrase  in  time 
of  peace  to  a  seaman. 

That  was  the  direction  of  the  prow  of  the  good 
ship  Otynijria,  with  the  wearied  Admiral  aboard,  as 
she  steamed  at  last  out  of  Manila,  past  the  ships  of 
all  nations — prominent  among  which  was  the  U.  S.  S. 
Oregon,  famous  for  all  time  among  navigators  for 
having  twice  rounded  the  Horn — a  feat  which  was 
considered  not  to  be  attempted  by  a  modern  armored 
line-of-battle  ship. 

But  there  she  la}r  in  Manila  Harbor,  and  between 
her  and  the  departing  compeer  arose  the  noisiest  of 
the  farewell  greetings. 

Around  them  both,  along  that  coast,  comprising  a 
hundred  miles  of  inland  sea,  fluttered,  from  every 
point  of  elevation,  the  flag  which  was  hardly  known 
there  five  years  before  :  the  "  thing  of  beauty  which 


144  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

is  never  raised  anywhere  for  oppression,  but  carries 
in  its  folds  Education  and  Civilization." 

Smoke  rose  from  a  thousand  cannon  mouths,  and 
from  the  steam-whistles  of  a  fleet  of  steam  launches 
and  petty  craft  ascended  shouts  in  English  and  broken 
ditto  : 

Good-by,     Dewey  I"      "  Pleasant      voyage  !  " 


"  Long  life  to  the  Admiral  ! 


The  bands  of  the  Baltimore,  and  other  men-of- 
war  played  appropriate  airs  as  "  Home,  Sweet 
Home  !  "  "  On  the  Banks  of  the  Wabash  !  "  «  Lave 
us  a  lock  o'  yer  hair  ! "  "  Farewell  to  Erin." 

The  merchant  vessels  dipped  their  colors,  a  kiilei- 
dioscopical  display  ;  handkerchiefs  were  waved  by 
the  senoritas,  while  their  cavaliers  lifted  their  hats  on 
top  of  bamboos,  and  the  common  folk  in  the  Usher 
craft  cheered  with  "  Vivas  !  " 

The  farthest  out  of  the  battle-ships  was  H.  B.  M.'s 
Powerful. 

"  Eter  Britannic  Majesty"  had  become  something 
more  to  American  eyes  since  her  ships  had  ranged 
themselves  beside  ours  in  Manila  Harbor  with  unveiled 
intent  to  fire  shot  for  shot  with  our  guns  against  any 
Power  which  presumed  to  break  Dewey's  blockade, 
and  show  that  it  was  only  "  paper." 

Everybody  knew  that  England's  "  smartest " 
minister,  Chamberlain,  had,  in  May,  hailed  the  idea 
of  an  Anglo-American  Alliance,  and  never  was  a 
Queen  Victoria's  Birthda}^  celebrated  so  rapturously 
under  the  American  sun  as  her  last  one  in  the  same 
month  in  our  Eastern  cities. 

One  of  her  admirals,  Brand,  had  complimented 
his  brother  of  "  the  Four  Stars"  with  these 
words  : 

" '  Manila  Bay '  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  vic 
tories  in  the  naval  history  of  the  world." 

The  Powerful  saluted  the  passing  ship  with  its 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  145 

band  playing  "  God  Save  the  Queen/*  which,  from 
the  similarity  of  the  music,  most  accepted  as  "  My 
Country,  'Tis  of  Thee,  Sweet  Land  of  Liberty  !  " 

Besides,  the  British  mariners  raised  one  of  those 
cheers  never  heard  on  foreign  decks,  and  Dewey's 
own  men  responded  with  not  only  cheers  but  a  truly 
national  "  Tiger-r-r  !" 

If  any  voice  was  missing  in  this  chorus,  it  was  that 
of  the  Kaiser-land.  The  Germans  were  not  reinstated 
in  good  odor,  although  apologies  had  been  made  for 
their  rudeness.  The  Admiral's  last  words  to  the 
general  taking  command  of  the  land  forces  had 
been  : 

"  The  Germans  behaved  very  nastily.  If  those 
vessels  had  been  here  (indicating  the  two  monitors, 
moored,  one  at  each  end  of  the  town),  and  they  had 
remonstrated  against  my  bombarding  that  town  to 
fire  out  the  Tagalos,  I  should  have  replied  :  '  I  will 
sink  you  first !  and  then  bombard  the  city  !  '* 

The  last  of  the  goodspeeds  came  from  the  brazen 
and  steel  lips  of  the  forts  at  Cavite,  where  the 
"  Blood-and-golden  banner"  had  been  pulled  off 
never  to  appear  again  ;  and  from  the  Monadnock  and 
Monterey,  the  iron-clad  harbor-defenders  to  which 
he  alluded. 

\Vell,  no  more  such  weary  hours  awaiting  them  ! 
They  were  substantially  on  the  spot,  and  not  going 
to  fade  away  like  their  puffs  of  smoke. 

It  was  a  long  pull  to  get  us  there,  but  we  came  to 
stay  ! 

Never  had  a  commandant  of  a  place  borne  away 
such  hearty  wishes  of  (<  Vive!  long  life!"  as  the 
modest  American.  General  Merritt  said  of  him  : 
"He  won  all  hearts  in  Manila,  especially  the  Eng 
lish  ones,  by  being  very  genial,  likable,  manly,  quiet, 
modest,  shrewd,  alert  and  tactful  !" 

And  yet  his  jurisdiction,  to  use  his  own  words, 
10 


146 


THE    LIFE   AND    CAREER 


torso  as  the  plain  people  like  statements,  "  Ex 
tended  only  from  as  close  to  shore  as  he  could  movo 
1 1 is  'flat-irons '  (the  iron-clads)  to  as  far  inland  as 
they  throw  a  shell  ! " 

Ah,  the  gratification  in  being  on  the  open  Blue 
again  ! 


ADMIRAL  MONTOJO,   COMMANDER  OF  THE  SPANISH  FLEET  AT  MANILA. 

At  Hong  Kong  was  a  foretaste  of  the  kind  of  greet 
ing  he  was  to  be  overwhelmed  with  from  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men,  who  had  heard  (and  who  had 
not  ?)  of  "the  hero  of  one  of  the  most  marvelously 
brilliant  victories  in  the  annals  of  naval  warfare." 

Here  he  heard  the  earnest  wish  uttered  that  he 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY. 

would  give  the  Great  West  a  chance  to  see  him,  by 
crossing  the  Continent. 

He  sighed,,  too,  and  responded  : 

"  If  I  were  twenty  years  younger  !  " 

But  he  was  not  so  disconsolate  as  all  that  !  It  was 
the  languorous  tropical  sun  and  sickening  miasmatic 
zephyrs — wait  till  the  native  east  winds  of  the  Green 
Mountains  would  frisk  it  out  of  him  and  his  gallant 
crew  ! 

One  of  the  best  things  for  a  patriot  to  hear  at 
Hong  Kong  was  of  the  fine  impression  the  American 
soldiers  and  sailors,  more  markedly  the  Western 
volunteers,  had  already  made  in  Japan  and  China. 
Whether  corning  to  form  the  army  in  Luzon,  or 
returning  home  from  termination  of  service,  or  in 
valided,  the  cry  was  general  :  "  They  are  excellent 
young  men  !  " 

The  best  of  the  hulks  on  which  these  were  im 
prisoned  were  mudscows  compared  to  those  beautiful 
snow-white  Indian  transports  on  which  the  British 
have  expended  the  science  of  twenty  years  to  make 
the  Queen's  soldiers  comfortable  on  long  voyages. 
But  cur  men  bore  the  innumerable  plagues  and  dis 
comforts  with  the  same  gallantry  as  they  had  shown 
in  the  jungles  of  Cebu,  Mindanao,  Luzon  and  Saniar  ; 
on  shore  they  never  had  a  scuffle  with  the  native 
police  or  their  own  provost  guards. 

Better  thiin  making  America  known  in  the  Far 
East,  they  are  making  us  endeared  and  respected. 

Even  here  the  most  biassed  of  what  is  called  the 
"  Hong  Kong  clique"  of  anti-Americans,  expressed 
wonder  at  the  Dakota  Volunteers,  who,  like  their 
comrades  of  Tennessee,  would  not  sail  for  home,  but 
landed  again  to  stand  by  the  side  of  brothers  fight 
ing  with  the  revolutionists. 

The  Ohpnpia  arrived  on  the  22d  of  May,  and 
made  a  longer  stay  than  anticipated. 


148  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

There  was  already  talk  of  the  United  States  pre 
paring  a  Dewey  Reception  which  would  eclipse  any 
thing  on  the  annals  from  the  welcome  to  Lafayette, 
Kossuth,  the  Atlantic  Cable,  the  Great  Eastern,  and 
the  other  Nine  Days'  Wonders. 

The  old  naval  officers  at  this  important  British 
station,  eyed  him  enviously,  muttering  with  their 
Admiral:  "Manila  is  his  Trafalgar;  but,  unlike 
Nelson,  he  lives  to  enjoy  his  honors  ! " 

No  ship  was  in  the  harbor  that  had  a  gun  but 
lavished  powder  in  hailing  him  ;  it  is  said  that  some 
traders  replaced  their  "quakers,"  or  dummies,  with 
genuine  long-toms  in  order  to  salute. 

At  the  formal  visit  to  Governor  Blake,  of  this 
British  trading  port,  a  major-general  commanded 
the  English  guard  of  honor,  and  receiving  troops  and 
the  naval  detachment  had  a  commodore  at  the  head. 
Our  Consul-general  Wild  man  performed  the  pre 
sentation  of  the  Admiral  and  his  officers,  Lieutenant 
Brumby  and  Captain  Lamberton. 

Vessels  fouling  fast  in  these  hot  waters,  the 
Olympia  laid  over  for  a  fortnight  in  order  to  have 
her  metal  cleaned  ;  during  this  enforced  stay  the 
Admiral  had  some  time  to  recuperate,  his  health 
being  still  feeble  at  even  this  slight  change  of  scene. 
This  was  the  cause  for  his  excusing  himself  from  at 
tending  the  British  dinner  in  honor  of  the  Queen  to 
which  he  was  particularly  invited. 

There  was  one  worry  which  was  still  tormenting 
him  :  that  fate  of  "  missing  men/'  which  troubles 
deeply  a  conscientious  naval  or  military  commander, 
who  must  regard  his  followers  as  his  sons. 

Although  many  of  the  gunboats  and  river-pal  rolers 
of  the  Spanish,  captured  about  Luzon,  had  been 
converted  to  our  uses,  there  was  still  a  want  of  light- 
draft  vessels  for  the  immense  coast  line. 

The  YorUown  had  sent  a  launch  up  an  inlet  where 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  149 

the  ambushed  Tagalos  had  captured  it  and  borne  away 
into  captivity  Lieutenant-Commander  Gillmore  and 
its  crew  of  fourteen.  Distressing  news  had  reached 
Manila  of  their  sufferings  among  poor  bushrangers 
who  had  no  clothing  or  food  to  speak  of  for  them 
selves.  But  Aguinaldo  was  in  one  of  his  refusing-to- 
treat  moods  arising  when  he  had  been  snubbed  in 
his  advances  towards  his  ex-friends  the  Americanos. 
A  ransom  had  been  demanded  for  them  which  the 
United  States  officers  had  refused  to  discuss,  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  motto,  "The  U.  S.  A.  pays  no 
price  for  peace. "  Thereupon,  as  the  brigands  in  all 
countries  act  towards  the  prizes  which  turn  out  nn- 
remunerative,  the  prisoners  had  to  suffer.  A  Span 
iard  who  "  came  in,"  professed  to  have  been  a 
prisoner,  too,  at  Bigan,  where  he  had  seen  the  sea 
men,  half-starved  and  in  rags  ;  the  commander, 
being  of  notable  stature  and  physique,  bore  his 
wants  best  ;  but  though  "in  bad  shape,"  they  had 
no  doubt  that  Uncle  Sam  would  go  the  right  way 
about  to  procure  their  release.  Indeed,  though  it 
was  not  known  till  later,  relief  was  sent  to  them. 

This  expectation  cheered  up  the  Admiral,  and 
this  was  the  last  of  his  Manila  worries. 

As  he  had  said  humorously  to  General  Merritt,  on 
quitting  :  "  I  have  been  walking  the  deck,  worry 
ing,  night  after  night.  You  can  do  that  now  ! " 

It  must  have  been  striking  to  pass  through  the 
Suez  Canal,  with  the  incident  fresh  there  of  Admiral 
Carnara's  Spanish  squadron  being  detained  for 
(<  want  of  a  dollar  or  two,"  to  pay  the  tonnage  dues ; 
it  will  be  remembered  that  when  he  obtained  the 
cash  from  home,  it  was  useless,  as  he  had  run  out  of 
coal,  or  at  least  that  was  good  enough  grounds  for 
sailing  back  over  the  Mediterranean  to  cover  his 
native  shores,  menaced  by  the  flying  squadron  of 
Commodore  Watson.  This,  however,  had  no  need  to 


150  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

cross  the  Atlantic,  since  Spain  collapsed  too  prema 
turely  for  its  guns  to  be  trained  upon  their  ports. 

Upon  the  Mediterranean  anew,  Dewey  must  have 
recalled  his  earlier  visits,  when  he  was  a  youth,  and 
in  later  manhood. 

Malta,  the  well-known  British  naval  station  in  the 
Middle-Sea,  has  its  memories  for  him.  Ten  or  more 
years  prior  to  this  transit,  when  lie  was  commanding 
the  European  Squadron,  he  had  to  put  into  that 
port  to  find  a  skilful  surgeon  for  an  operation  on 
which  depended  continuance  in  that  "  honest  service 
which  was  for  God  and  mankind." 

A  portion  of  his  liver  had  to  be  removed,  which 
was  the  foundation  of  the  jocular  by-name  lie  went 
with  among  his  brother-officers  :  "  The  Man  with 
out  a  Liver."  The  surgeon  had  gravely  said,  with 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  upon  him  :  "  You  can  say 
anything  about  that  man  ;  but,  bearing  the  operation 
with  that  fortitude,  you  must  add  that  he  does  not 
show  ( the  white  liver/ ': 

At  the  same  harbor,  some  of  his  "  Pensacolas " 
went  ashore  and  became  mixed  up  with  what  may  be 
classically  styled  the  Brumalia  of  that  cosmopolitan 
haven,  more  plainly,  a  "brangle."  The  police,  an 
efficient  one,  pursued  them,  but  the  Jack-tars  man 
aged  to  return  to  the  Pensacola.  Nevertheless,  it 
was  a  grave  oifense,  for  the  harbor  master  came  out 
next  day  to  complain. 

The  port-captain  of  Malta  thinks  himself  about  on 
the  level  of  the  port-Admiral  of  Marryatt's  sea-novels, 
and,  besides,  the  feeling  between  British  and  Yankee 
marine  worthies  was  not  as  cordial  as  later. 

"  What  can  I  do  ?"  asked  Dewey. 

«  Why,  your  men  raised  a  riot  on  shore,  and  you 
can  assist  me  in  arresting  and  punishing  them," 
was  the  reply. 

The  American  captain  was  very  courteous  in  the 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  151 

expression  of  regret  that  sailors  of  the  U.  S.  N. 
should  be  lawless  while  on  shore  leave,  but  could  see 
no  way  in  which  he  might  assist  his  visitor  in  search 
ing  out  the  guilty  ones. 

The  reply  of  the  naval  officer  angered  the  Britisher, 
who  said,  somewhat  peremptorily:  "  Yon  certainly 
can  parade  your  crew  before  me  in  order  that  the 
rioters  may  be  identified." 

Looking  aloft  and  pointing  to  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
waving  at  the  masthead,  Dewey  made  the  reply  : 
"  The  deck  of  this  vessel  is  United  States  territory, 
and  I'll  parade  my  men  for  no  foreigner  that  ever 
drew  breath." 

Much  had  happened  since  then  to  "  the  Xelson  of 
America,"  as  the  sailors  in  the  port  of  Gibraltar 
termed  him,  as  the  Olympia  steered  into  that  famous 
stronghold  of  the  British. 

Before  this,  she  had  touched  at  Villef ranch e,  where 
the  King  of  Italy,  unable  to  make  the  hero's  personal 
acquaintance,  sent  his  old  General  Bogliolo  to  repre 
sent  him.  It  was  appropriate  that  the  land  of  Gari 
baldi  should  hold  out  a  friendly  hand  to  the  son  of 
Columbia  and  Xew  World  Freedom,  for  which  the 
*'  Lion  of  Caprera  "  had  fought  and  bled. 

This  historical  spot  received  the  honored  visitor  on 
the  4th  of  September. 

In  the  port  was  the  British  line- of -battle  ship 
Devastation.  Her  guns  joined  those  of  the  impreg 
nable  fortress  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  to  reply  to  our 
salutes  for  the  garrison. 

At  noon,  the  Admiral  landed  to  proceed  to  the 
Hotel  Bristol,  as  he  intended  to  live  ashore  during 
the  ten  days'  stay,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  Our 
Consul,  Mr.  Sprague,  was  an  old  friend,  so  that 
this  sojourn  promised  to  be  comfortable.  To  enjoy 
the  quiet,  he  refused  a  banquet  from  the  British 
authorities,  although  he  paid  the  usual  call  to  the 


I$2  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

commandant,  General  Sir  Robert  Biddulph,  who  sent 
his  carriage  to  convey  him  to  the  governor's  palace. 

As  they  could  not  entertain  the  lion,  the  disap 
pointed  military  and  naval  officers  gave  a  dinner  to 
his  captains  from  the  Olympia  with  a  brilliant  spread 
and  international  toasts,  representing  the  Eagle  and 
the  Bull  hobnobbing, — more  Anglo- America. 

It  being  said  at  the  board  that  the  English  the 
more  admired  our  naval  hero  for  his  practical  nature, 
an  officer  of  the  Royal  Artillery  expressed  his  regret 
that  another  practical  officer,  one  Cornet  O'Doriohue, 
was  not  alive  to  see  him  as  one  of  his  own  stamp. 

Of  course,  the  story  to  illustrate  Mr.  O'D.'s  prac 
tical  nature  was  called  for.  It  was  worth  coming  to 
"the  Gib."  to  listen  to  it. 

O'Donohue  was  one  of  the  garrison  of  the  fort. 
He  was  officer  of  the  day  when  a  brother-officer,  who 
had  taken  too  much  wine — this  was  in  the  port- 
drinking  days — walked  over  the  rock  at  a  point  where 
there  is  a  drop  of  a  thousand  feet,  and  was  killed. 

When  the  officer  of  the  guard  made  out  his  report, 
he  made  no  mention  of  this  accident.  Indeed,  when 
he  came  to  fill  in  his  report  and  reached  the  ques 
tion,  "  Has  anything  extraordinary  happened  while 
you  were  officer  of  the  guard  ?  "  he  wrote,  in  the 
blank  space  reserved  for  the  answer,  "  Nothing." 

Of  course  he  was  summoned  before  Lord  Napier, 
of  Magdala,  the  Governor  of  Gibraltar.  When  he 
appeared,  Lord  Napier  asked,  "  You  were  the  officer 
of  the  guard  at  Elpinstone  Guard  yesterday  ?  " 

"I  was,  sir." 

"  And  this  is  your  report  ?  " 

"  It  is,  sir." 

"  Lieutenant  M was  killed  by  walking  over 

the  rock?" 

"  He  was,  sir." 

"  You  knew  that  when  you  made  out  your  report  ?  " 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  153 

"  I  did,  sir." 

"That  he  was  killed  ?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  And  yet  yon  said  in  your  report  that  nothing 
extraordinary  had  happened  on  your  guard  ?  " 

"  I  did,  sir." 

"  Well,  Mr.  0'Donohue,"said  Lord  Napier,  sternly, 
"don't  you  think  it  is  extraordinary  when  a  lieuten 
ant  walks  over  the  rock,  falls  one  thousand  feet, 
and  is  killed  ?  " 

"Indeed,  sir,"  was  the  prompt  reply,  "I  should 
think  it  extraordinary  if  he  had  fallen  that  far  and 
not  been  killed." 

An  old  sailor  of  the  war-ship,  at  the  celebrated 
rock-fortress,  recalled  an  anecdote  of  the  place,  set 
ting  on  evidence  his  admiral's  detestation  of  drink 
and  falsehood. 

A  petty  officer,  going  on  land  for  his  ' '  liberty," 
had  taken  the  liberty  of  imbibing  too  deeply. 

When  called  upon  to  explain,  in  the  morning,  he 
aggravated  the  offense  by  protesting  to  his  chief  that 
he  was  only  taken  ill. 

"'Sick?"  repeated  Commodore  Dewey,  fanning 
off  the  breath  impregnated  with  Maltese  wine,  which, 
poured  out  of  goatskins,  is  strong  as  old  cider  : 
"You  are  lying.  You  were  very  drunk.  I  heard 
you  myself.  I  will  not  have  my  men  lie  to  me.  I 
don't  ask  them  not  to  drink,  but  I  do  expect  them 
to  tell  the  truth.  If  you  had  told  me  frankly  you 
had  taken  a  drop  too  much  e  on  liberty/  you  would 
have  been  forward  by  this  time,  for  you  returned  to 
the  ship.  But  for  lying  you  get  ten  days  in  irons. 
Let  me  have  the  truth  hereafter.  I  am  told  you  are 
a  good  seaman.  A  good  seaman  has  no  business 
telling  lies." 

As  the  good  ship  steered  out  into  the  great  ocean, 
leaving  the  dreadful  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  good  side 


154  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

— that  is,  the  off  one — it  might  be  that  a  vision  came 
back  of  the  future  admiral  laying  out  on  the  3 arc! 
to  take  in  sail  at  an  emergency — one  of  those  acts 
which  endear  to  the  seaman  his  superior,  by  proving 
that  he  might  have  "  crawled  in  at  the  cabin  window," 
but  that  he  could  do  the  able-bodied  seaman's  v\ork. 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Rand,  who  was  on  the  Flag-ship 
Colorado  at  the  time,  relates  : 

"Admiral  Dewey  was  then  lieutenant-commander 
and  executive  officer.  Once,  during  a  terrific  gale, 
we  were  off  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  oftentimes  a  nasty 
place,  too,  and  the  command  was  given  to  save  the 
ship.  The  old  Colorado  could  not  move  faster  than 
eight  knots  an  hour,  and  we  were  on  a  lee  shore.  I 
tell  you  it  looked  bad  for  us. 

11  At  the  height  of  the  storm  the  admiral  took  the 
bridge,  relieving  Dewey,  and  the  order  was  given  to 
set  sails  to  help  us  out  to  sea.  We  fellows  had  to 
hustle  into  the  riggings,  and  just  to  encourage  us, 
Dewey  himself  mounted  the  ladder,  and  in  less  time 
than  I  can  tell  it,  was  on  the  yard  unfurling  sail. 
It  was  an  exciting  scene,  and  a  dangerous  situation; 
but  in  a  short  time  we  were  clear  of  the  coast,  and 
safe  from  wreck  on  one  of  the  rockiest  shores  I 
know  of." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SOFT  AND  GENTLE  PASSAGE. — "  AMERICA,  HO  "  ! — 
"  HE  IS  HERE  !  " — THE  FIRST  APPLAUSE. — THE 
NAVY  WELCOMES. — YOUNG  GEORGE. — ALL^S  WELL 
THAT  BEGINS  WELL. 

THE  voyage  was  resumed  with  only  one  more  stop 
ping-place,  the  Madeiras.  There  is  one  show-place 
here,  at  Funchal,  to  wit,  the  famous  ossuary  of  tht 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  155 

old  Franciscan  Convent,  where  a  chamber  is  dec 
orated  alow  and  aloft  with  bones  of  holy  men  of 
the  fraternity,  who  have  been  thus  interred  in 
the  air. 

Dewey  had  pledged  that  he  would  be  in  Xew  York 
Harbor,  in  the  hands  of  the  Reception  Committee 
on  the  28th  of  September,  and  as  it  would  have 
broken  his  heart  for  him  to  break  his  word,  never 
was  the  Olympia  handled  more  carefully,  in  the  heat 
'of  battle,  than  by  her  sailing-master,  who  shared 
his  commander's  pride  in  the  craft. 

The  Southern  Atlantic  route  had  been  chosen,  as 
there  was  ample  time  ;  besides,  as  it  turned  out,  the 
Northern  route  was  uncommonly  stormy  this  year, 
and  even  in  such  masterpieces  of  maritime  art  as 
the  great  Oceanic,  the  nasty  bleak  winds  and  cross 
seas  were  severely  felt.  The  Admiral  escaped  all 
this  up  to  the  end,  when  there  was,  on  the  home 
shores,  a  break  in  the  "  Queen's  weather,'7  as  the 
English  call  meteorological  pleasantness,  or  ' '  Dewey 
weather,'7  as  his  seamen  say. 

As  a  profound  navigator,  the  commander,  of 
course,  kept  the  vessel's  progress  in  his  mind,  asking 
and  knowing  nil  about  the  currents,  winds,  bearings, 
speed,  and  course. 

It  was  trimming  to  a  nicety,  as  he  did  not  wish 
to  arrive  aforetime  to  embarrass  the  Committee  or, 
worse,  to  be  late. 

So  they  crossed  at  a  fair  pace  and  slackened  up  so 
as  to  reach  Sandy  Hook,  that  sentry  at  the  gates  of 
the  Eastern  metropolis,  with  "  plenty  to  spare/7  for 
later  maneuvers. 

One  propeller-blade  had  been  twisted  and  was  hung 
up  idle,  but  the  other  sufficed  to  give  movement  over 
smooth  water. 

Sandy  Hook  loomed  up  on  the  evening  of  the  24th 
September,  Monday  of  a  memorable  week. 


I  $6  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

Unfortunately,  there  was  to  a  seaman's  eye  evi 
dence  of  a  storm  threatening. 

The  question  arose  :  "  Shall  we  stand  out  to  sea 

•  «~i    99 

again  ? 

It  is  amusing  to  a  landsman  that  sailors  should 
prefer  the  open  waters  in  a  tempest  to  a  shore,  on  a 
large  vessel. 

"No,"  replied  the  Admiral,  "we  shall  run  in  and 
anchor.  A  storm  would  upset  tilings  aboard,  and 
the  crew  will  catch  cold,  coming  out  of  a  hot  climate  ; 
they  would  not  be  in  good  shape  for  festivities." 

Accordingly  the  immense  anchors  touched  Amer 
ican  soil  at  that  lonesome  spot  barring  the  waves  of 
the  Atlantic. 

Pilot-boat  No.  7  hove  in  sight — beauties  of  the 
deep,  of  such  was  the  America,  the  yacht  which 
first  wrested  the  supremacy  of  the  seas  from  England. 
John  Peterson  was  the  pilot,  and  he  was  received 
with  all  the  delight  treasured  up  on  a  long  voyage 
for  the  fellow-countryman  who  brings  the  aroma  of 
home.  He  also  brought  some  oysters  which  the 
officers  partook  of,  along  with  bits  of  news,  for  the 
first  time  in  two  years.  John  was  surprised  that  they 
were  so  cold  at  coming  into  these  seas,  where  the 
nor'-easter  which  "fetched them  up  shivering"  was, 
to  him,  only  a  cheery  breeze. 

"  They  have  it  warm  for  ye  up  the  harbor,  I  hear," 
added  he,  grinning. 

Yes,  it  was  cold  to  the  Olympians  and  the  chief 
was  glad  to  have  his  Chinese  servant  rake  extra 
blankets  out  of  the  locker  that  night.  But  the  chill 
made  him  sleep  better,  and,  as  usual,  for  Dewey  is  a 
little  of  the  Malade  Imaginaire — "  the  Robust  In 
valid,"  by  reason  of  the  tropical  clime — he  was  re 
vived. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  telegraph  at  the  Hook  had 
not  been  idle — the  wires  heated  with  the  swiftness 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  157 

with  which  the  tidings  were  sent  inland  :  "  Dewey  is 
sighted  ! "  When  Nelson  returned,  dead,  alas  !  to 
be  carried  to  Westminster  Abbey — or,  truthfully,  to 
St.  Paul's — the  news  ran  from  coast  to  capital  by 
signal-flags ;  this  slow  course  would  not  suit  our 
people.  Before  the  Admiral  had  breakfast,  in  short, 
the  gunners  who  had  been  standing  by  their  pieces, 
trigger-string  in  hand,  were  pulling,  and  "  Dewey 
is  here  ! "  roared  by  the  cannon  mouth  not  only  in 
New  York  but  all  over  the  Union. 

No  feari  of  a  storm  swallowing  up  our  demigod, 
now,  from  jealousy  of  an  ocean  divinity  ! 

With  the  sun,  the  sailors  were  up  in  a  keen  wind 
which  made  them  move  with  the  utmost  alacrity,  and 
those  who  had  no  work  to  do,  swung  and  hugged 
their  arms,  did  steps  of  hornpipes  and  otherwise 
acted,  as  nearly  as  a  seaman  can  do,  like  the  motor- 
men  on  a  freezing  morning  in  January. 

If  they  had  had  the  Lick  telescope,  they  might 
have  seen,  over  at  Greenville,  N.  J.,  the  biggest 
American  flag  hoisted  of  which  history  tells. 

In  the  mean  time,  coming  along  shore  and  down 
the  port-mouth  were  the  first  tugs  and  pleasure- 
steamers,  crowded  with  people  who  had  sat  up  all 
night  and  embarked  with  cockcrowr,  in  order  to  have 
a  first  peep  at  the  idol  of  the  day — of  all  days. 

The  Admiral  rose  betimes  ;  it  promised  to  be  one 
of  our  fall  days  when,  as  John  Jay  said,  nothing  in 
Italy  equals  the  beauty  of  them.  He  smiled  at  the 
men  surreptitiously  capering  like  goats  to  revive 
their  circulation,  for  he  sympathized  with  them  ;  he 
looked  up  at  his  pennant  stiffly  cleaving  the  sky  like 
a  shark-pin  in  the  waters,  and  muttered  with  blue 
lips  that  it  was  "A  bit  too  cold,"  yet  he  did  his 
"constitutional "  walk  just  the  same. 

At  seven  o'clock,  with  some  surprise,  the  officer  of 
the  deck  reported  that  two  war-ship  masts,  undeni- 


158  THE   LIFE   AND    CAREER 

ably  different  from  anything  peaceful  that  spars  a 
ship,  were  visible  to  the  south.  It  was  soon  identi 
fied  by  the  marine  glass  as  the  U.  S.  Cruiser  Chicago. 
As  she  came  rushing  up  the  channel,  the  Olympiads 
men  were  dashing  to  quarters  for  which  the  bugle 
had  sounded. 

This  vessel  carried  Rear-Admiral  Howson,  whose 
pennant,  as  she  passed  her  sister-ship,  was  imme- 
dately  supplemented  by  a  flight  of  small  flags,  greet 
ing  the  other  chief.  At  the  same  time  the  batteries 
of  both  ships  were  opened  for  business,  and  presently 
seventeen  guns  belched  the  salute  to  Admiral  Dewey, 
to  which  he  replied  with  the  proper  number  for  his 
comrade. 

As  if  these  were  a  signal,  all  the  guns  around  about 
began  to  fume  and  bellow.  From  five  war-ships  of 
Admiral  Sampson's  fleet,  the  batterers-down  of  Span 
ish  power  in  the  West  Indies,  horizontal  shoots  of 
flame  and  vapor  rolled  over  the  water  and  dissipated 
what  morning  haze  Aurora  had  left  to  veil  the  burn 
ing  sun  ;  the  ingenious  herald  who  traced  our  hero's 
lineage  back  to  Thor  the  Thunderer  ought  to  have 
been  here  to  hear  him  hailed  with  this  tremendous 
reverberation. 

But  there  is  something  better  for  cordiality  than 
reports  of  ordnance.  Just  at  this  nick  came  along 
the  pride  of  Gotham's  passenger  service,  the  crack-a- 
jack  Sandy  Hook,  crammed  with  curious  persons, 
who  made  her  careen,  staunch  as  she  is,  by  racing  to 
the  side  towards  the  Olympia  and  giving  an  unani 
mous  yell :  l<  Welcome,  Dewey  ! " 

The  salutation  was  so  sincere  that  the  Admiral 
bowed  to  it,  and  remarked  with  an  unsteady 
voice  : 

"  They  seem  glad  to  see  me  I" 

"  '  Seem  ! '  •''  said  a  reporter,  "  '  they  know  not 
geems  ! '  Wait  till  you  get  up  to  the  city  ! " 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  159 

This  man  knew  of  what  he  spoke — New  York  was 
no  longer  the  foremost  town  of  this  seaboard,  but, 
thanks  to  the  thousands  who  had  been  pouring  in 
from  all  quarters,  it  was  a  gathering  of  all  the  States  ; 
its  population  doubled  in  ten  days.  That  is  what 
leads  us  to  dilate  on  the  details  of  this  unparalleled 
reception.  It  was  not  the  offering  of  a  city,  however 
great,  but  the  tribute  of  a  nation. 

At  half-past  seven,  the  Olympiads  men  went  to 
breakfast,  but  the  cannonade,  which  continued  to 
find  echoes  everywhere,  the  tremor  in  the  air  ahead, 
where  points  of  brightness  and  color  fluttered  like 
fireflies  trying  to  outvie  the  sun,  and  this  cheer  from 
the  excursion  boat,  thrilled  them  ;  they  ate  with 
little  relish. 

At  eight  o'clock,  a  peculiar  flag  on  a  U.  S.  cutter 
betokened  an  official  visit.  This  was  the  DolpJtin 
flying  the  Navy  flag  for  the  Secretary  ;  his  Assistant, 
Allen,  was  coming  to  act  for  him  and  the  Navy. 

As  she  came  abreast,  fifteen  guns  were  fired  iu 
salute. 

The  band  began  national  airs  as  he  ascended  the 
gangway  plank.  At  the  stage  from  which  Mr. 
Allen  should  walk  upon  the  deck,  the  Admiral 
warmly  presented  himself  to  help  him  forward. 

Both  the  little  Dolphin  and  the  huge  war-ship 
were  already  hovered  around  by  countless  small  craft, 
under  sail  and  steam,  and  even  rowed  out  so  far, 
containing  excursionists  who  had  dared  the  dawning 
fogs  to  greet  the  cynosure. 

"I  welcome  you,  Admiral,"  ^aid  the  new-comer, 
"and  congratulate  you  in  the  name  of  the  Navy  \" 

"Thanks,  thanks,"  responded  the  other  with 
warmth  which  there  was  no  reason  he  should 
conceal. 

Here  he  was  face  to  face  with  his  own  folk,  with 
none  but  a  friend,  let  him  look  where  he  would. 


l6o  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

The  more  formal  greeting  took  place  in  the  li 
brary,  the  Secretary  marching  between  the  marines 
presenting  arms,  while  the  band  continued  to  play 
tunes  iu  which  our  soldiers  and  sailors  have  found 
inspiration  for  noble  deeds. 

A  little  before  nine,  orders  were  out  for  the  ship 
to  proceed  up  that  incomparable  harbor,  beside 
which  fades  the  Bay  of  Naples,  the  Bosphorus,  the 
Golden  Gate,  Halifax,  and  what  you  will. 

Steam  had  lifted  the  ponderous  anchors,  and  be 
fore  the  flukes  were  seen  arising  and  dripping  like 
the  fins  of  a  Leviathan,  the  colossal  war-engine  began 
to  cleave  the  water. 

The  flotilla  of  pleasure  boats  had  increased  every 
minute,  and  as  she  took  the  lead,  this  retinue  looked 
like  the  captive  kings  and  conquered  people  which 
a  Caesar  brought  after  him  when  he  was  given  his 
"  triumph  "  in  ancient  Rome. 

Dewey  looked  round  as  he  went  upon  the  after- 
bridge — not  the  forward  one  where  he  had  directed 
the  thunderbolts  which  made  Admiral  MontojVs 
fleet  look  like  Judas's  rejected  thirty  pieces  of  silver — 
and  said,  not  more  than  half-reluctantly  : 

<f  Well,  if  I  must  be  a  hero,  I  must  !  I  am  ready. 
I  thought  I  was  too  old  for  such  honors,  but  here  is 
Senator  Depew  saying  that  I  am  yet  but  a  young 
fellow  ;  and,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  feel  so  ! "' 

The  cold-drawn  truth  is  that  the  sun  was  up,  and 
it  invigorated  him — Dewey  was  himself  again  ! 
This  "hero  in  spite  of  himself"  was  the  same,  who, 
after  the  Battle  of  Manila  (entitled  by  Wilson,  the 
British  naval  authority,  "the  great  and  glorious 
victory  ")  observed  to  his  officers,  gathered  around 
him  as  he  sat  on  the  deck  : 

"Gentlemen,  I  believe  we  will  hear  of  this.  I  be 
lieve  the  American  people  will  think  it  was  well  done. 
There  is  a  picturesqueness  about  the  Philippines  and 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  l6l 

a  completeness  about  the  victory  that  will  arouse 
some  enthusiasm." 

Those  who  were  looking  out  at  the  forts  in  the 
Narrows,  saw  the  Olytnpia,  like  Neptune  among 
the  Nereids,  rapidly  approaching,  followed,  helter- 
skelter,  by  the  miscellaneous  collection  of  craft, 
pressed  into  the  service  from  all  sides,  the  passengers 
screaming  and  waving  toy-flags  and  brightlv-colored 
handkerchiefs,  the  whistles  shrieking  to  split,  sirens 
booming,  darkey  cooks  banging  gongs,  itinerant 
musicians  playing  unidentifiable  tunes  on  all  manner 
of  instruments,  in  full,  a  horrific  din  which  only  the 
irrepressible  enthusiasm  of  the  moment  excused. 

All  this  din  was  drowned  in  the  overwhelming 
thunder  from  the  forts  saluting,  to  which  the 
Olympiads  flags  dipped  in  response. 

On  the  shores  to  right  and  left,  the  masses  of 
people  were  clearly  defined — one  could  count  the 
stars  on  the  flag  they  waved,  so  clear  was  the  air. 

In  keeping  with  the  battle-ship's  majestic  advance, 
went  this  double  tidal  wave  of  patriotism. 

Then  the  lively,  pellucid  atmosphere  thickened 
with  the  powder  fumes,  and,  hanging  over  the  recip 
ient  of  this  hubbub,  many  were  reminded  that  she 
was  the  central  figure  in  that  scene  of  victory  which 
happened  on  a  May  morning  over  yonder. 

One  soft  note  in  all  this  fracas  deeply  affected  the 
few  privileged  to  behold  it. 

The  Admiral's  only  son  had  come  aboard.  He  is 
a  self-reliant,  unassuming  youth,  who  is  in  the  dry- 
goods  trade.  When  he  entered  business  in  New 
York,  not  long  ago,  he  adopted  his  father's  sensible 
advice  to  begin  at  the  lowermost  round,  and  so  he  is 
receiving  but  a  mediocre  salary.  Hearing  of  this, 
one  of  those  enterprising  newspapers  which  hunt 
after  notables  to  garnish  the  daily  feast  of  "celebri 
ties  on  the  sideboard,"  could  not  fail,  through  its 
II 


162  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

conductor,  to  desire  an  interview.  In  the  course  of 
this,  it  was  advanced,  in  a  kind  of  Irishman's,  or 
broad  hint,  that  he  would  like  him  to  join  the  staff, 
at  a  princely  recompense.  There  was  no  call  for  his 
articles — in  fact,  he  was  not  required  to  do  any 
writing  at  all ;  somebody  else  would  do  the  literary 
matter  to  which  he  need  only  append  his  name  ! " 


THE  LATE   WIFE  OF  THE  ADMIRAL.      MRS.   DEWEY  DIED  IN   1872. 

The  young  man,  spite  of  his  creditable  demeanor, 
is  full  of  "  snap."  The  editor  thought  for  a  brief 
spell  that  he  had  run  up  against  the  Olympiads 
Samson  post,  so  abrupt  was  the  indignant  rejection 
of  two  hundred  a  month  for  ' '  only  a  name  ! " 

The  bystanders,  at  the  meeting  of  father  and  son, 
thought  that  there  would  be  embarrassment,  for 
the  younger  man  had  a  good  idea  of  how  the  nation 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  163 

was  about  to  hail  the  conquering  hero.  But  not  at 
all.  Any  awe  he  might  have  felt  was  blown  to  the 
winds  instantly  on  their  hands  pressing. 

Having  dropped  the  forts  behind  her,  the  Olympia 
approached  the  White  Squadron.  They  presented 
a  strikingly  bewitching  aspect  to  a  naval  expert — 
clean  and  trim  as  a  Dutch  village. 

The  Admiral  made  some  feeling  remarks  which 
denoted  that  he  had  by  heart  their  doings  in  the 
nearer  hemisphere,  and  that  he  was  unjealously  proud 
of  the  companion  work  they  had  done  to  his  fleets. 

Between  the  Olympia  and  the  Brooklyn,  as  two 
ends  of  a  pair  of  tongs,  the  Spanish  fleets  had  been 
smashed  like  a  toad. 

As  the  two  flag-ships  were  about  to  salute,  Dewey 
went  from  his  station  to  the  after-deck  to  make  sure 
that  all  was  done  with  faultlessness.  This  change 
of  position  brought  him  within  view  of  some  in  the 
fleet  of  boats  which  still  accompanied  the  progress. 
He  bowed  and  smiled  to  the  more  conspicuous,  send 
ing  them  home  happy  in  the  belief  that  "  Dewey 
has  noticed  me  !  " 

On  the  instant  of  the  Olympia  being  anchored  at 
the  head  of  all  the  battle-ships,  an  officer  was  sent 
otf  to  notify  the  Mayor  of  New  York,  as  the  titular 
host,  that  all  was  ready — "  The  victim  is  in  his 
hands,"  said  some  one  jestingly. 

It  was  a  willing  victim,  and  if  they  killed  it,  it 
would  be  with  kindness. 

The  ship's  gangway  was  besieged  by  hosts  which 
tried  to  achieve  an  entrance  more  strenuously  than 
ever  an  enemy  had — but  the  marines  were  impassable 
— none  went  by  to  the  cabin  but  officials. 


164  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THURSDAY  OF  DEWEY  WEEK. — CIVIC  MEEDS. — A  CITY 
TOPSY  -  TURVY.  —  UNHOUSED  MULTITUDES.  —  THE 
LAND  PARADE. — FATIGUED  BUT  THANKFUL. 

THURSDAY  was  bound  to  be  as  bnsy  a  day  as  any 
other,  so  the  Admiral  was  up  at  his  usual  hour,  five 

A.  M. 

i  The  Army  was  represented  by  the  Commander-in- 
chief,  General  Miles,  who  called. 
.  Then,  the  Governor  of  New  York  hastened  not 
merely  as  an  official  entitled  to  the  step  of  prece 
dence  over  the  Mayor  expected,  but  from  former 
comradeship. 

The  Governor  is  Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  famous 
hunter  of  big  game  in  the  Rockies  ;  the  captain  of 
the  Rough  Riders,  whose  exploits  are  indelibly  writ 
on  the  Cuban  War  annals  ;  the  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  who  had  the  clearest  idea  of  the  magni 
tude  of  the  task  before  our  Admiral  in  the  Far  East. 

It  may  long  remain  disputable  who  really  chose 
and  insisted  on  Admiral  George  Dewey  having  the 
Asiatic  fleet  to  direct  and  guide  to  victory,  but  it  is 
absolutely  certain  that  Roosevelt  saw  to  it  that  the 
winning  fleet  was  not  to  gain  a  barren  victory  or, 
perhaps,  to  have  the  laurels  snatched  away  by  a 
covetous  hand. 

The  official  correspondence  with  Dewey  makes  it 
manifest  that  it  was  by  Secretary  Roosevelt's  direc- 
'tion  that  the  Olympia  was  retained  on  the  Asiatic 
Station  after  she  had  been  ordered  home.  Her 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  l6$ 

officers  knew  privately  that  she  was  expected  to  call 
at  San  Francisco. 

DESPATCH  (Confidential),  Roosevelt  to  Dewey 
(Feb.  25th)  : 

''Order  the  squadron,  except  Monocacy,  to  Hong 
Kong.  Keep  full  of  coal.  In  the  event  of  a  declara 
tion  of  war  with  Spain  your  duty  will  be  to  see  that 
the  Spanish  squadron  does  not  leave  the  Asiatic  coast, 
and  then  offensive  operations  in  Philippine  Islands. 
Keep  Olympia  until  further  orders." 

A  foot  note  by  the  Bureau  of  Navigation  says  : 

"  Olympia  had  had  orders  to  proceed  to  United 
States.3' 

Now,  since  Roosevelt  had  upheld  the  appointment 
of  Dewey,  although  it  was  objected  that  he  was  a 
naval  dandy,  it  was  compulsory  upon  him  in  logic 
to  uphold  him  if  he  were  truly  on  the  road  to  a 
battle. 

At  the  juncture  when  Dewey  expected  to  be  warned 
to  leave  Hong  Kong  as  a  neutral  port,  arrived  the 
Baltimore.  She  had  gone  round  to  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  to  touch  at  Honolulu  ;  there  she  took  on 
board  among  ordinary  stores  some  special  cases  which 
had  come  overland  to  San  Francisco  with  such  care 
that  the  stevedores  had  muttered  "  Dynamite  !  "  in 
handling  them.  They  were,  in  fact,  the  shells  for 
the  largest  guns,  the  turret  eight-inch,  on  the  big 
ships.  Indispensable  !  in  the  days  of  the  muzzle- 
loaders  naval  sea-dogs  were  never  at  a  loss ;  for 
powder  they  used  charcoal  of  their  own  burning, 
saltpeter  out  of  sea-birds'  caves,  etc. ,  and  made 
bullets  and  shot  of  cut  "pigs,"  and  even  Dutoh 
cheese  at  a  pinch  ! 

But  modern  guns  require  their  accurately-fash- 


1 66  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

ioned  equipment,  and  the  Olympia  and  her  consorts 
would  have  been  muzzled  before  the  enemy  had  the 
Baltimore  failed  to  bring  the  longed-for  "  food  for 
the  big  fellows." 

It  had  come  out  later,  as  all  the  world  knows, 
that  the  Battle  of  Manila  Bay  was  not  suspended  in 
the  heat  of  action  sheerly  to  give  the  men  time  for 
breakfast,  but  because  it  was  necessary  to  ascertain 
how  the  not  superfluous  stock  of  the  special  ammu 
nition  was  running  out.  Therefore,  the  men  never 
turned  out  to  do  honor  to  a  man  more  quickly  and 
heartily  than  to  cheer  Governor  and  ex-Secretary 
Eoosevelt. 

As  a  vessel  of  war  is  always  in  a  fit  state,  the  prep 
arations  for  the  reception  were  no  trouble  to  the 
Olympiads  officers,  but  to  the  Mayor  and  government 
of  Greater  New  York,  as  the  conglomeration  of 
boroughs  under  that  new  head  i*  styled,  it  was  a 
terrible  week  of  anxiety  and  tribulation. 

Manhattan  is  accused  of  reserve,  coldness,  a  cos 
mopolitan  indifference  ;  no  heart  ;  all  for  business, 
which,  we  know,  excludes  sentiment  ;  still,  those 
who  know  her  longest,  are  assured  that, when  aroused, 
she  never  stints  to  welcome  those  who  enter  in  at  her 
wide  door.  As  Dickens'  character  says  :  "  Todgers' 
does  it  well  !  " 

The  population  was  doubled  by  the  addition  of 
five  million  strangers  !  and  most  of  them  would  be 
concentrated  in  the  limits  of  the  main  city,  that  is, 
on  Manhattan  Island.  As  they  were  estimated  to 
spend  ten  million  dollars  a  day,  they  were  guests  not 
to  be  treated  niggardly. 

Hence  the  police  were  on  the  alert  from  the  start, 
warning  ofi  suspicious  characters,  and  locking  up 
for  the  week  those  who  boldly  maintained  a  right  to. 
stay  out-doors.  Fortunately,  as  we  are  a  temperate 
people,  and  most  of  our  foreign  citizens  drink  light 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  l6/ 

wine  or  thin  beer,  there  was  little  disorder  to  be 
apprehended  on  the  score  of  inebriety. 

Thieves  and  drunkards  being  eliminated,  the  rest 
accommodated  itself  to  circumstances  with  the  elastic 
good  humor  of  persons  assembled  with  a  common 
view. 

Long  before  the  week,  passengers  on  trains  and 
boats  told  with  glee  that  they  were  en  route  to  see 
the  Victor  of  Manila.  But  after  the  great  guns  had 
thunderously  informed  the  nation  that  "  Dewey  was 
in  the  Lower  Bay/'  the  influx  jumped  to  a  stagger 
ing  figure. 

Everything  that  could  carry  was  impressed  into 
usefulness  ;  railroad  cars  were  dusted  up  from  their 
sidings  where  they  had  been  discarded  ;  old  steam 
boats  were  inspected — all  that  sailed  on  a  keel  or 
ran  on  wheels  brought  a  contingent  to  the  army  of 
sight-seers  invading  New  York.  Freight  trains  were 
suspended,  while  all  the  staff  forwarded  the  freight 
which  conveys  itself  "on  the  hoof." 

All  the  hotels  of  size  were  prematurely  crowded  ; 
in  the  corridors,  cots  were  spread  and  guests  were 
glad  to  sleep  on  the  billiard  tables.  The  old  joke  of 
poles  being  run  out  of  the  windows  on  which  patrons 
might  perch,  was  revived  with  a  serious  look. 
Wealthy  house-owners  retired  to  back  rooms  and  let 
out  their  others  to  customers  who  never  expected  to 
rest  in  such  superb  apartments.  Untenanted  dwell 
ings  were  snapped  up  by  speculators,  and  shanties 
were  built  like  Aladdin's  palace  between  dog's  bark 
and  cock-crow. 

The  overflow  trickled  out  to  the  suburbs,  and  the 
splendid  ferryboats  were  jammed  night  and  day 
carrying  occupants  for  the  spare  bedrooms  of  the 
outlying  districts  as  far  as  trolley-cars  would  reach. 

Then  rose  a  floating  colony  which  made  the  water 
side  resemble  Venice  or  Gaiitorj.  River ;  not  only 


\ 

-I 


1 68  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

were  the  hay  sloops,  the  canal-boats  and  produce 
barges  turned  into  mock  "  floating  palaces/'  but  the 
steamers  happening  to  be  tied  up  at  the  wharves 
were  similarly  employed.  Up  went  the  prices  for 
such  improvised  attentions,  but  a  holiday  like  this 
comes  but  once  in  an  eon  ;  a  dollar  was  but  as  a 
dime  at  other  more  rational  times. 

The  streets  were  thronged  with  the  curious,  en- 
rapt  in  the  preparations  going  on  to  give  them  a  glut 
of  show  and  pageantry  ;  with  surpassing  good  humor 
the  masses  made  passages  for  the  gods  of  the  day, 
the  carpenters,  painters,  decorators,  who  permeated 
the  mobs  like  quicksilver  running  over  foil. 

Numberless  stands  began  to  rise  all  over  the  route 
where  the  Land  Parade  was  to  march  ;  besides  which, 
the  city  generously  erected  larger  and  still  more 
numerous  "  stoops,"  for  its  guests — not  the  rich  and 
titled — but  the  school-children,  the  recipients  of 
public  charity  and  her  wards  comprehensively  ;  for 
the  seven  or  eight  stands  there  was  furnished  eight 
million  feet  of  lumber  at  an  expenditure  of  $180,000, 
all  to  accommodate  at  seven  or  eight  spots  30,000 
persons.  One  of  the  largest  held  1,500  school-chil 
dren,  dressed  in  white  and  in  blue,  so  posed  that  the 
former  spelled  the  name  of  "DEWEY"  on  the 
cerulean  background  of  the  majority. 

Aged  visitors  to  New  York  may  remember  the 
First  Crystal  Palace  ;  it  stood  beside  the  old  Croton 
Eeservoir ;  the  latter  building,  condemned  for  im 
provement  as  a  public  library,  was  covered  with  a 
platform  holding  3,000  persons. 

The  superficial  effect  was  of  some  brains  in  the 
•ornamentation  ;  indeed,  this  was  not  the  adornment 
of  old  times,  when  one  householder  hung  out  a  rug, 
another  the  curtains,  and  a  third  the  home-made 
standard  ;  artists  were  called  in  to  give  harmony  and 
a  certain  uniformity  which  appeased  the  fatigued 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  169 

sight  after  too  much  hue  and  glitter  ;  principally 
one  saw  the  national  tri-color  and  the  Navy  blue- 
and-gold. 

Streets  were  done  in  one  plan  ;  house  fronts  were 
draped  so  that  no  one  was  conspicuous. 

On  the  pavement  the  uniforms  of  the  regular  army 
and  of  the  citizen  soldiery  were  plentiful ;  the 
jokers  said  that  one  could  not  move  a  cable-car  on 
Broadway  without  risk  of  crushing  a  State  Gov 
ernor. 

In  fact,  everybody  was  invited  to  this  national 
home-warming. 

"  North  and  South  together  brought 
Now  own  the  same  electric  thought  : 
In  peace  a  common  flag  salute." 

All  the  embellishment  reached  its  highest  degree 
in  the  "  Dewey  Arch,"  the  popular  name  for  a  hand 
some  structure  put  up  at  Madison  Square  in  the 
kind  of  stucco  known  as  "staff/'  vulgarly  "stuff," 
a  "corruption  of  "  Staffordshire,"  from  the  pottery 
clay  of  that  English  county.  First  used  in  Europe, 
notably  for  making  fictile  statuary,  so  that  the 
groups  could  be  tested  on  the  points  to  be  occupied 
by  the  finished  work,  it  was  made  known  to  us  by  its 
wholesale  use  at  the  Chicago  Fair.  The  beauty  and 
chasteness  of  the  "White  City,"  so  reared  has  caused 
its  general  adoption  for  hasty  effect,  yet  of  a  gratify 
ing  kind. 

Sculptors  and  artists  gave  their  talent  and  skill  to 
produce  this  testimonial  to  Dewey's  worth,  laboring 
night  and  day  to  be  done  on  time,  some  falling  ill 
from  their  exertions  ;  one  or  two  martyrs  to  art  died, 
in  fact.  But  they  will  have  the  consolation  to  know 
that  it  was  hailed  as  a  success,  and  a  subscription 
was  immediately  commenced  to  perpetuate  it  in 
marble,  although  it  might  cost  a  million, 


THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

If  the  general  effect  is  too  near  that  of  the  Paris 
"  Arch  of  the  Triumph  of  the  Star,"  nevertheless,  it 
is  new  to  us,  and  the  resemblance  is  in  a  measure 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  French  designers  copied, 
like  us,  the  monuments  of  the  Romans.  It  stands  in 
front  of  the  Worth  Monument,  a  general  of  the 
Mexican  War.  The  future  site  is  not  yet  selected. 
It  will  be  a  civic  treasure,  anywhere. 

It  is  "  To  the  Triumph  of  the  American  Xavy," 
hence  the  subjects  were  nautical  and  from  our 
history  ;  the  persons  prominent  are  Paul  Jones, 
Decatur,  Preble,  Hull,  Farragut,  etc.  In  more  than 
one  of  the  groups  and  panels  the  American  sailor 
is  depicted  as  he  appeared  at  the  Manila  Battle, 
stripped  to  the  waist. 

Both  ways,  it  is  led  up  to  by  a  colonnade,  the 
columns  being  adorned  with  Victories  offering 
wreaths.  The  width  of  the  central  passage  did  not 
allow  a  regiment  to  march  through  in  company 
front,  but  they  did  so  in  fours. 

Thousands  haunted  this  spot  to  watch  the  sculp 
tors  and  plasterers  at  work,  prolonged  into  the  dark 
and  assisted  by  the  electric  light. 

Comparatively  few  persons  had  been  on  the 
Olympia,  and  fewer  still  had  conversed  with  the  hero 
of  the  day,  but  these  diffused  all  over  town  the  per 
sonality,  so  winning,  of  the  naval  celebrity. 

They  said  he  was  not  the  bronze-figured,  steel- 
hearted  commander  of  an  iron-clad  fleet,  but  human, 
kindly,  simple  and  good-natured. 

Hxtra  editions  circulated  hourly  in  the  crowds  ; 
they  showed  that  Dewey  had  bewitched  the  Knights 
of  the  Stylograph  like  all  great  men  by  being  prof  use 
upon  trivialities  and  discreet  about  grave  matters. 

The  popular  picture  of  him  had  to  be  corrected, 
though,  for  we  were  not  to  behold  him  as  at  the 
in  a  white  duck  gu.mm.er  neglige^  with,  3, 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  17! 

traveling-cap  snatched  up — a  cap  going  down  to 
posterity,  on  his  head,  as  that  Scotch  cap  which 
Abraham  Lincoln  donned  to  pass  through  inimical 
Baltimore  to  be  inaugurated. 

Dewey  would  be  seen  as  the  Admiral,  Chief  of  the 
Navy,  in  azure  and  gold,  almost  the  nautical  Brum- 
rnel  "of  twenty  years  ago  and  even  later,  when  his 
critics  at  Washington  reproached  the  Department 
for. sending  out  a  "  dude  "  to  Asia  who  was  so  par 
ticular  about  his  collars  !  "  Ay,"  retorted  one  who 
knew  him,  "  but  we  send  one  who  will  fight,  and  we 
are  not  particular  about  the  linen  of  such  a  man,  as 
long  as  he  wears  any  collar  at  all  !  " 

Folks  whispered,  and  the  touch  of  fellow-feeling 
made  them  smile  : 

"  Thinking  of  the  flowery  path  he  has  to  tread,  he 
shrinks  from  the  ordeal  !  " 

To  use  his  own  words:  "I  rather  dread  the 
thought  of  going  through  the  ordeal — the  noise  and 
hubbub  of  crowds,  to  which  I  am  unaccustomed. 
Not  that  I  do  not  appreciate  the  honor  the  people 
do  me,  do  not  think  that,  but,  to  say  the  truth,  I 
was  wholly  unprepared  for  the  great  wave  of  en 
thusiasm  with  which  we  have  been  met  on  my 
return  home. 

"  We  had  expected,  of  course,  quite  a  reception, 
but  this  exaggeration  of  sentiment — this  hero-wor 
ship  (here  a  wave  of  color  spread  slowly  over  the 
Admiral's  face  and  there  was  a  suspicion  of  tears  in 
his  eyes)  is  something  that  I  did  not  dream  of. 

"  So  while  I  am  almost  afraid  of  the  next  few 
days,  I  am  at  the  same  time  filled  with  a  vast  joy 
and  thankfulness  that  I  belong  to  a  nation  that 
knows  how  to  thank  so  nobly  its  servants  who  do 
their  duty. 

"  But,  with  Von  Moltke,  I  hold  that  a  man  should 
not  be  judged  too  soon,  f  No  man/  s.aid  Yon  Moltke, 


)>2  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

i 

*  is  known  even  to  his  own  family  until  after  he  is 
dead,'  and  he  believed  that  people  should  not  make 
their  estimate  of  a  man  till  then. 

"  That,  I  know,  is  a  little  too  slow  for  progressive 
Americans.  They  are  generous  to  a  fa%ult  and  im 
pulsive  to  a  great  degree.  But  there  is' no  denying 
that  they  do  things  in  a  princely  fashion. 

"I  feel  that  our  people  ought  to  wait  a  while  in 
my  case.  I  fear  they  are  making  me  out  too  much 
of  a  hero,  and  if  they  should  be  disappointed  ulti 
mately  how  flat  I  should  feel  and  what  a  fall  would 
there  be  !  Yet,  after  the  fight  there  in  Manila  Bay, 
I  feel  it  was  out  of  the  common." 

His  name  was  on  every  lip,  his  image  in  every 
eye  ;  citizens  who  could  not  yet  speak  our  tongue 
freely  sported  the  Navy  cockade  on  their  hats ; 
children  of  distant  nationalities  were  dressed  in  his 
ship's  colors ;  horses,  carts,  whips,  all  was  decorated 
with  a  Dewey  memento.  The  Chinese  burnt  gilt 
paper  in  his  honor  in  their  temples  ! 

Little  children  lisped,  as  a  new  lullaby  : 

"  Dewey  was  the  morning, 

Dewey  was  the  day  ; 
DEWEY  was  the  hero 
Of  old  Manila  Bay  !  " 

"With  the  freedom  of  the  city,  New  York  presented 
him  with  a  gold  loving-cup  worth  $5,000,  while  a  pop 
ular  subscription,  in  dimes,  stood  for  the  tribute  of 
50,000  people  ;  it  was  a  giant,  standing  six  feet  high, 
of  coin  silver. 

Summing  up  the  situation,  an  uptown  store-keeper 
wrote  across  his  show-window  :  "  George,  You  Own 
the  Town  ! "  Other  mottoes  were  :  "  Hail,  the 
Victor  of  Manila!"  "We  all  feel  just  good,  for 
Dewey's  come  sailing  home  ! "  and  "  Welcome, 
Dewey  !"  gleamed  everywhere  from  house-fronts  to 
pennants,  from  balloons  and  wire  screens  in  the  air. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  1/3 

One  unequaled  compliment  was  in  a  railroad  com 
pany's  employes  refraining  from  a  strike  because  it 
was*"  Dewey  Week  !  "  The  Columbia  University  had 
to  postpone  its  opening  ;  business  was  suspended  ex 
cept  to  cater  to  the  guests  and  the  military  and 
official  world  ever  arriving.  A  rose  was  named  after 
him  ;  and  celebrities  know  that  this  is  no  easy  honor, 
since  all  the  world  cannot  get  its  bust  on  a  cheap 
pipe  or  a  cigar  label.  If  any  deed  were  done  quickly 
and  thoroughly,  the  verdict  was  "  Dewey  done  it  ! " 

As  the  poet  of  the  sidewalk  warbled  : 

"  We've  babies  christened  Dewey — 

The  pretty  little  pets — 
We've  Dewey  opera  houses 

And  Dewey  statuettes. 
There's  Dewey  drinks  by  dozens 

And  Dewey  shirt  waists,  too, 
With  Dewey  belts  and  buckles, 

Likewise  a  Dewey  shoe. 

"They're  making  Dewey  buttons, 

They're  are  making  Dewey  hats, 
And  '  Dewey  '  is  imprinted 

On  collars  and  cravats. 
They're  making  Dewey  '  tobies,' 

And  thus  they  name  cigars  ; 
They're  making  Dewey  cocktails 

To  push  across  the  bars. 

"  We've  made  a  '  day  '  for  Dewey, 

And  there  are  Dewey  nights, 
WTith  lithographs  of  Dewey — 

Oh,  some  of  them  are  sights ! 
There  is  a  Dewey  button, 

That's  blossomed  with  the  year, 
While  '  lobster  a  la  Dewey ' 

Is  popular,  I  hear. 

"  They're  making  Dewey  gaiters, 

And  Dewey  slippers'  too  : 
They're  making  Dewey  ribbons, 
In  red  and  white  and  blue, 


174  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

They  put  the  name  of  Dewey 

On  anything  they  like, 
And  soon  upon  the  market 

There'll  be  a  Dewey  bike." 

His  affability  struck  the  masses  as  delightfully 
new  in  a  hero.  His  fraternal  embrace  to  Admiral 
Sampson  was  as  impressive  as  his  condescension  in 
letting  his  hand  rest  on  a  lad's  shoulder  that  they 
might  be  both  the  victim  of  a  "  Kodak-fiend." 

To  the  champion  prize-fighter,  visiting  his  ship, 
he  had  not  withheld  a  pleasing  word. 

At  the  end  of  the  week,  a  push-cart  man  totaled 
np  the  general  dictum  in  a  card  on  his  cart  : 

"  Dewey,  come  again  ! " 

The  most  remarkable  effusion  was  that  of  the 
Spanish  Minister,  Duke  d'Arcos.  He  said  that  the 
extraordinary  welcome  did  not  surprise  him  a-s  "  no 
honor  could  be  too  great  for  one  who  had  served  his 
country  so  well  ! "  Bearing  in  mind  what  this  serv 
ice  was,  this  was  a  magnanimous,  if  not  a  magnifi 
cent,  compliment. 

Bnt  above  all,  truly  a  national  tribute,  was  the 
spontaneous  declaration  that  George  Dewey  had 
"  the  first  call  "  on  the  "  Presidential  Chair."  "  Such 
a  man  might  steer  clear  of  politics  and  yet  enter  the 
White  House,  untrammeled,  like  "Old  Hickory" 
or  "  Rough-and-Ready  Taylor/' 

The  Admiral  was  not  an  isolated  celebrity  ;  we 
speak  of  the  Generals  of  Washington  and  Napoleon's 
Marshals,  and  so  of  Dewey's  Captains.  These  were 
being  rewarded  all  over  the  land  ;  their  ships  receiv 
ing  silver  services,  their  hands  being  filled  with 
crowns,  wreaths,  and  swords  of  honor,  usually  at 
their  proud  birthplaces.  But  there  was  a  strong 
wish  that  they  should  be  by  his  side  in  this  greeting. 

People  knew  their  names  by  heart,  also.  Gridley 
of  the  Olympia,  Wildes  of  the  Boston,  Dyer  of  the 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  175 

Baltimore,    Wood    of   the   Petrel,    Walker    of    the 
Concord,   "  and  there  are  others." 

Gridley  died  on  the  homeward  voyage  ;  Dyer,  who 
silenced  the  Spanish  batteries  after  MontojVs  were 
sunk  and  burnt,  fought  against  the  most  resistance 
Manila  presented  ;  a  volunteer  from  the  merchant 
service  for  the  Civil  War,  he,  like  Dewey,  served 
under  Farragut,  who  promoted  him  for  gallantry  ; 
he  was  in  his  native  Massachusetts  at  this  time ; 
Wildes,  of  the  same  state,  is  also  a  hero  of  the  last 
war,  having  fought  on  monitors  and  ironclads,  and, 
particularly,  at  Farragut's  triumphant  Battle  of  Mo 
bile  ;  he  was  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard.  Captain 
Coghlan  is  master  of  the  Puget  Sound  Navy  Yard. 

Their  presence  would  have  atoned  for  the  absence 
of  the  President  and  Cabinet ;  invited,  they  had  all 
declined  and,  for  them,  came  the  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy.  However,  as  the  President  was  to 
greet  Dewey  at  Washington  and  present  him  with 
the  sword  voted  by  Congress,  that  might  pass. 

These  honors  were  very  well,  including  engrossed 
parchments  from  schools  of  learning,  and  the  prize- 
money  (few  know  that  some  of  the  Spanish  vessels, 
laid  up  in  Manila,  were  raised  and  served  under  our 
flagj),  the  people  wanted  to  render  their  gratitude  in 
their  own  way. 

That  is  why  a  hundred  thousand  soldiers  would 
have  formed  the  Thursday's  procession,  but  this 
army  could  not  have  been  handled. 

It  was  restricted  to  something  like  forty  thousand. 
The  notable  features  were  the  detachments  of  the 
Navy  and  Marines,  regulars,  the  Astor  Battery  re 
turned  from  Cuba,  under  command  of  the  million 
aire  patriot  ;  the  Old  Guard  ;  Veterans  of  the 
Spanish- American  War  (the  G.  A.  R.  did  not  par 
ticipate  because  refused  the  right  of  the  line,  destined 
for  the  Navy),  and  companies  of  National  Guards  out 


176  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

of  nearly  every  state.  The  forty-eight  Highlanders 
from  Canada,  represented  our  North  Countrymen  of 
the  future.  From  Pennsylvania,  came  Philippine 
Veterans. 

This  imposing  array,  brilliant  with  variety  and  com 
posed  of  the  mercantile  and  business  elements  in  a 
great  measure,  defiled  at  the  City  Hall,  sumptuously 
decorated,  before  the  Admiral  and  the  Mayor  and  dis 
tinguished  guests,  the  pick  of  our  society,  including 
the  Governors  whose  guards  of  honor  passed  in  the 
show. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  in  this  carnival  of 
patriotism  "  the  men  behind  the  guns"  were  ignored. 
They  were  the  objects  of  public  felicitation — "  We 
cannot  fairly  expect  to  shake  hands  with  Dewey, 
but  we  can  get  hold  of  his  sailors  ! "  was  the  popular 
cry. 

When  they  got  hold  of  them  they  did  not  know 
when  to  let  go.  The  ships  had  drawn  a  maximum  of 
worship,  and  with  Dewey,  the  Olympia  was  pronounced 
"  The  finest  you  have  got.  I  am  proud  of  her  as 
the  Navy  ought  to  be.  Just  as  comfortable  as  a 
yacht.  Look  at  her  lines — anything  prettier  ?  and 
those  guns  !  they  can  speak  ! " 

Ay,  they  did  speak  to  the  Spanish,  and  the  Amer 
ican  people  heard,  while  the  echo  went  around  the 
globe. 

Those  allowed  aboard  had  pulled  the  ears  of 
"  Bob,"  the  Chinese  pet  dog  ;  and  scratched  the 
back  of  Senor  Sagasta,  the  mascot  pig  and  playmate 
of  the  deck  hands,  and  admired  the  polished  guns — 
but  the  seamen — our  brothers  of  the  outer  defense 
line — they  were  the  idols  ! 

It  was  but  an  exponent  of  the  whole  spirit,  that 
eating-house  keeper  who  ticketed  his  windows  : 
"Free  dinners  for  the  Olympia? 's  ere  Every 

thing  they  could  point  at  throughout  tfy  town  was 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  177 

freely  theirs.  Traders  would  be  insulted  at  their 
offering  to  pay  for  anything. 

80  Thursday  passed  joyously  amid  glorious 
weather. 

In  the  night,  the  city  broke  out  into  flame  like  a 
Spanish  fleet  under  our  guns — all  was  illuminated 
from  the  cellars  to  the  tiptop  of  the  loftiest  "sky 
scrapers," — all  the  hues,  all  the  variety  in  shimmer 
and  effulgence  of  the  modern  pyrotechnist. 

At  the  smoking  concert  at  the  great  hotel,  the 
Waldorf-Astor,  the  crew  of  the  Olytnpia  were  feasted, 
to  the  number  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  ;  in  the  bal 
cony  were  seated,  to  witness  their  thorough  enjoy 
ment,  their  Admiral,  his  brother-officer,  Sampson  of 
the  Cuban  fleet,  with  Captain  Evans.  The  Chairman 
of  the  United  New  York  Board  spoke  the  Address 
of  Welcome. 

A  last  word  on  this  famous  ship  :  sent  to  Boston 
to  be  repaired,  she  went  out  of  commission,  but  she 
will  ride  the  deep  again,  yet  farther  to  carry  the 
"four  stars  "  of  Dewey. 

"  Columbia  is  the  Ocean-Queen,  and  she  standeth  stanch 

and  true, 
With    Dewey  for  her    cutlass  keen,    and    her    buckler 

Jackets  blue ! " 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  FRIDAY. — THE  NATIONAL  REGATTA. — THE  PAN 
ORAMA. — A  VERY  SPECIAL  SALUTE. — "HAIL  TO 
THE  PLAG  !  "—ON  TO  WASHINGTON. 

FRIDAY  was  another  slice  out  of  the  Indian  sum 
mer  which  rejoiced  the  sightseers. 

The  thousand  members  of  the  Civic  Committee 
who  came  down  to  the  Narrows  to  greet  the  national 
12 


1/8  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

guest  had  no  need  of  overcoats  as  they  backed  up  their 
.Mayor,  who  made  a  welcoming  speech  to  the  com 
mander  of  the  Olympia  on  her  deck.  As  he  could 
not  shake  hands  with  that  number  without  the  lame 
shoulder  which  he  soon  afterwards  experienced,  he 
distributed  a  few  clasps  and  uttered  more  words  which 
the  hearers  treasure.  He  replied  instantly  to  their 
call  by  going  upon  their  steamer,,  the  Sandy  Hook, 
to  sit  at  a  luncheon  worthy  of  Knickerbocker's  town 
where  good  cheer  has  always  reigned,  as  witness 
"  cookies"  and  "  crullers."  The  police  boat  Petrel, 
not  the  little  vessel  so  gallant  at  Manila,  transferred 
him  to  his  own  ship,  on  which,  alone  almost,  he  was 
to  preside  over  the  Water  Parade. 

His  guests  were  very  limited  here,  only  his  son,  the 
respected  widow  of  Captain  Gridley,  who  was  fre 
quently  cheered,  and  one  or  two  old  personal  friends. 
These  walked  up  and  down  the  after-bridge  until  the 
anchor  was  raised  and  the  war-ship  started  for  the 
cruise  to  Grant's  Tomb. 

The  fleets  were  composed  of  boats  of  all  kinds  be 
longing  to  the  city,  fire,  police,  etc.,  yachts,  large 
steamboats,  those  massive  tugs  which  are  the  pride 
of  the  harbor,  four  or  five  of  those  "demons  of  the 
sea — "  the  torpedo  boats — excursion  boats  of  every 
stripe,  a  dozen  or  so  of  saucy  revenue  cutters,  the 
Navy  having  let  all  attend  which  could  be  spared, 
and  celebrated  battle-ships,  the  New  York,  Indiana, 
Brooklyn,  Massachusetts,  Chicago,  and  others  with 
names  familiar  in  everybody's  mouth. 

The  Olympia  was  the  more  easily  picked  out  among 
them  as  they  were  painted  yellow  while  she  was  still 
white. 

The  start  was  made  at  one  o'clock  p.  M. 

The  police  boats  preceded  by  a  little  to  clear  the 
way  of  the  swarming  small  craft,  which  spoils  the 
.yacht  races  and  everything  else  by  intrusion. 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  1/9 

More  effectual,,  the  fire-boats  came  up  and  poured 
immense  spouts  of  water  on  interferers,  which  caused 
them  to  retire,  deluged. 

Those  who  saw  the  tremendous  display  of  war 
engines  at  the  Queen's  Jubilee  Review  may  have 
seen  more  vessels,  but  nothing  equaled  the  gather 
ing  since  Xerxes  collected  his  galleys  or  they  rammed 
one  another  at  Actium.  The  variety  was  bewilder 
ing,  and  the  names  of  the  craft  would  make  a  list 
longer  than  Homer's  "  List  of  the  Ships."  Besides, 
the  world  has  no  harbor  like  Xew  York's  for  a  parade 
of  maritime  masterpieces.  The  noble  Hudson  River 
can  bear  navies  without  their  fouling. 

The  shores  form  a  dress-circle  for  five  or  six  miles 
where  spectators  can  see  all  the  evolutions.  If 
hundreds  of  thousands  peered  at  the  aquatic  pro 
cession  from  the  craft,  a  couple  of  million  looked  on 
from  the  shore  and  piled  the  roofs  of  those  tall  edifices 
of  which  Chicago  and  this  city  bear  the  burden. 

One  thing  literally  struck  everybody — the  up 
roar  of  voice,  cannon,  steam  whistles  and  inde 
scribable  instruments  which  beat  pandemonium. 
Xaval  officers  said  it  was  worse  than  the  din  of 
battle. 

The  speed  was  eight  knots,  and  the  warships  kept 
ri^lit  on  with  no  slowing  or  stopping. 

The  Admiral  was  busy  bowing  to  the  pleasure- 
fcf'.'kers  whose  boats  ran  as  near  as  permitted  and 
tried  by  all  devices  to  draw  attention  each  on  him 
self.  He  was  much  amused  at  the  odd  floats  with 
their  odd  passengers,  decked  out  with  Dewey  medals, 
colors,  trinkets.  One  in  particular  brought  a  hearty 
laugh — it  was  the  Ox,  a  dumpy  lighter  with  a  top- 
heavy  crane,  on  winch,  like  Dutch  reefers  taking  in 
sail,  some  boys  daringly  swung. 

"Just  sec  the  Ox!"  exclaimed  the  merry  center 
of  all  this  gala  ;  "  she  beats  them  all  I  " 


I  So  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

\     And  the  sturdy  Ox  got  the  most  agreeable  smile  of 
all  that  turned  out  in  his  honor. 

He  showed  almost  a  boyish  glee  in  showing  to  his 
son  and  intimates  the  badge  the  City  had  given  him. 

"Is  it  not  beautiful?  "  he  said. 

From  all  the  moving  vessels  came  music,  cheers, 
song  and  waving  of  colors.  A  photograph  in 
natural  colors  would  be  like  a  scene  from  fairyland. 

The  view  sternwards  of  the  packed  thousands  on 
the  piers,  wharf-sheds,  buildings  in  tiers  from  the 
waterside  to  the  tops  of  the  giants  at  the  Park,  not 
a  window  unfilled,  not  a  perch  on  the  soaring  cor 
nices  untenanted — this  held  him  spell-bound. 

This  outburst  of  gratitude,  of  patriotism  and 
adoration  came  from  no  "  pent-up  Utica,"  but  from 
the  entire  Fifty  States — from  California  to  the  Gulf, 
from  Maine  to  New  Mexico. 

The  antique  emperors,  looking  over  the  amphi 
theater  heaped  with  minions,  satraps,  generals,  slaves 
and  subjects,  saw  nothing,  in  their  climax,  like  to 
this  lofty  spectacle — these  were  freemen  holding  up 
their  hand  to  another  freeman  whom  chance  had 
chosen  to  stand  in  the  breach  where  all  else  would 
have  thronged  in  the  same  cause — defense  of  country. 

He  was  not  tired  this  day  on  the  waters. 

He  saw  every  little  thing.  Three  or  four  times 
he  called  for  his  marine-glass  to  define  a  detail.  When 
the  squadron  went  majestically  by,  he  stood  at  the 
salute,  not  rigid,  but  supple  as  though  a  young  cap 
tain  again.  He  issued  his  orders  in  a  voice  unnerved 
by  this  warm  inundation  of  applause.  At  131st 
Street,  beside  the  stake  boat,  the  St.  Mary's  train 
ing  ship,  was  the  old  U.  S.  Frigate  Portsmouth, 
built  in  1840,  so  that  there  may  have  been  grizzled 
officers  in  this  parade  who  had  been  apprentices 
aboard  her. 

As  the  Olympia  turned  round  the  training-ship, 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  l8l 

Dewey  smiled  upon  the  boys  in  their  neat  suits  and 
set  the  cue  for  them  to  be  cheered,  while  the  ancient 
ship  received  part  of  the  salute. 

The  men-of-war  anchored  here,  and  the  column 
went  down  stream  between  them  and  the  New  York 
shore.  They  had  come  up  along  the  Jersey  shore, 
where  a  pretty  incident  occurred. 

Our  readers  will  remember,  in  the  early  pages 
about  our  hero's  boyish  life,  how  he  had  a  conflict 
with  a  school-teacher  who  was  instrumental  in  form 
ing  his  future. 

Mr.  Pangborn,  living  in  Jersey  City,  turned  out  to 
fire  a  salute  as  his  former  pupil  should  pass.  From 
the  school-desk  to  the  quarter-deck  of  a  flag-ship, 
what  a  rise  !  Then  the  boy  had  snowballed  him  ; 
now  he  was  firing  blank  cartridge  on  him  !  Then 
the  old  dominie  repeated  to  the  crowd,  as  the  battle 
ship  sailed  by  under  their  eyes  (his  own  moisten 
ing): 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  Dewey  said  when  he  came 
home,  as  a  young  officer.  He  said  to  me  :  '  I  shall 
never  cease  to  be  grateful.  You  made  a  man  of  me. 
But  for  that  thrashing  you  gave  me,  1  might  have 
ended  in  the  State  prison  ! " 

So  the  boys  who  heard  him  went  away,  glad  in  the 
future  to  gfet  a  whipping — how  could  one  become  a 
hero  but  for  the  same  treatment  ? 

From  the  Olympia,  anchored  up  stream,  it  seemed 
that  the  passage  to  land  might  be  made  though  two 
miles  in  distance,  by  stepping  from  one  head  to  an 
other  of  the  passengers  on  those  boats,  so  closely  were 
they  retiring,  as  if  moored  together. 

Those  who  lingered  saw  the  most  tender  of  pat 
riotic  sights. 

When  our  flag  is  lowered  at  dusk  at  a  military  sta 
tion  or  on  a  national  defender,  the  commanding 
officer  gives  the  example  in  saluting  the  colors. 


1 82  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

There  he  was  on  the  bridge,  his  eyes  on  the  flag 
descending,  and  his  hand,  which  had  curbed  Spain 
as  a  rider  curbs  a  bronco,  touching  his  hat  in  rever 
ence.  He  owed  all  this  homage  to  his  defense  of 
that  flag  ! 

Long  after  the  pleasure-boats  had  borne  away  their 
cargoes  towards  their  lodgings,  he  remained  on  the 
deck  to  see  the  fireworks.  They  were  even  more 
splendrous  than  yesterday's,  and  still,  on  the  water, 
the  yachts  could  be  seen  glorious  in  electric  lights. 

The  next  day  he  spent  in  rest  ;  and  on  Sunday, 
without  any  notification  to  the  press,  eager  to  keep 
tally  of  his  every  step,  he  went  unobserved  to  a 
church  in  Harlem,  where,  in  his  plain  clothes,  al 
most  none  recognized  him. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  WASHINGTON  RECEPTION. — THE  HOME  FROM  THE 
PEOPLE. — ITS  HOSTESS  EXPECTANT. — VERMONT 
WELCOME.— LAYING  THE  STONE  OF  DEWEY  HALL. 


FOR  quite  a  month,  they  had  been  making  rea 
in  the  National  Capital  to  receive  the  victor  in  wl 


ready 
what 

Captain  Mahan  designates  the  "  greatest  naval  battle 
)i\  record/' 

He  stayed  at  an  apartment-house  where  he  had 
previously  resided,  but  soon  entered  the  mansion  of 
Mrs.  Washington  McLean,  to  whose  daughter  was 
attached  an  old  tale  that  she  was  the  Admiral's  flame, 
not  by  any  means  extinct. 

From  his  former  residence  at  Washington,  his  time 
was  fully  occupied  with  renewing  old  friendships, 
especially  as  he  was  expected  to  permanently  dwell 
here  in  the  near  future. 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  183 

Delegations  came  from  all  sides  to  beg  him  to  pay 
their  homes  a  visit ;  letters  of  every  description 
poured  in  to  task  his  secretary,  and  he  had  official 
culls  to  make. 

He  received  an  ovation  at  the  U.  S.  Old  Soldiers' 
Home,  where  he  said  that  he  had  never  learned  to 
appreciate  "  the  American  soldiers'  true  valor  and 


SWORD  OP   HONOR  VOTED   TO   ADMIRAL  DEWEY   BY  CONGRESS. 

noble  qualities  until  he  had  seen   them  fight  in  the 
Philippines." 

He  lunched  at  the  Metropolitan  Club  with  Professor 
Schurrnan  of  the  Philippine  Commission,  to  which 
he  is  attached  in  order  to  give  it  the  benefit  of  his 
experience  and  advice.  With  Rear- Admiral  Farqu- 
har,  successor  of  Admiral  Sampson,  he  strolled  out 


1 84  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

to  the  Navy  Department  near  which  he  was  recog 
nized  and  hailed  by  a  gathering  crowd,  although 
"  in  mufti,"  that  is,  citizen's  dress. 

He  merrily  excused  himself  from  shaking  hands 
with  old  acquaintances,  as  his  arm  was  sore  from 
hand-shaking  in  New  York. 

On  the  road  to  the  White  House,  he  was  inter 
rupted  by  throngs  of  women  and  of  school-children 
for  whom  he  had  a  wave  of  the  hand  or  a  smile. 

At  the  Presidential  mansion  he  was  closeted  for  an 
hour  with  the  Chief  Executive  ;  their  conference  was 
on  the  Asian  Question,  and  the  outcome  a  swift  de 
spatch  of  men-of-war  and  more  troops  to  the  seat  of 
strife.  Senator  Hanna  had  the  ill-luck  to  call  dur 
ing  this  confabulation,  but  turned  aside  at  hearing 
what  an  important  dialogue  he  was  interrupting. 

At  a  stand  before  the  Treasury,  Dewey  reviewed 
the  procession  in  his  honor ;  he  received  from  the 
President  the  sword  of  honor  voted  by  Congress. 
The  Admiral  had  postponed  the  date  of  a  desired 
visit  to  Chicago,  but  the  President  entreated  him 
to  go  thither  in  company  on  the  Presidential  Western 
tour.  This  was  declined  with  some  embarrassment. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  was,  whatever  the  press  in 
ferred  erroneously,  that  a  more  tender  engagement 
was  in  progress  :  the  Admiral  had  made  one  to 
marry  ! 

For  some  time,  it  had  been  determined  that  the 
most  agreeable  present  for  the  Union's  favorite  son 
would  be  a  home.  So  a  subscription  was  rapidly  cir 
culated  and  $50,000  was  raised  to  find  him  a  house, 
or  a  site  on  which  to  build  one,  at  Washington. 

Consulted,  he  preferred  to  have  a  dwelling  already 
built,  and  "  the  Fitch  House  "  was  selected  and  ap 
proved  by  the  future  occupier.  It  is  a  brick  house 
with  brown  stone  trimmings,  on  Rhode  Island  Ave 
nue*  in  the  heart  of  the  social  center.  The  furniture 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  185 

was  "  thrown  into  the  bargain  "  by  the  owner  on 
learning  who  would  be  the  real  purchaser.  Through 
out  the  States,  manufacturers  of  furniture,  uphol 
stery  and  the  like  vied  with  each  other  to  perfect  the 
interior.  New  stables  will  be  erected,  with  accom 
modations  for  "that  Dewey  lion"  which  the  Euro 
peans  (vide  Sir  Henry  Irving)  believe  struts  by  his 
side  in  his  walks  abroad  ! 

The  twenty  rooms  making  too  extensive  an  abode 
for  a  bachelor,  all  were  glad  that  it  would  have  a 
mistress  known  to  the  community  and  certain  to 
grace  the  board. 

Admiral  Dewey  will  wed  Mrs.  Hazen,  daughter  of 
Mrs.  McLean.  This  explained  the  rejection  by  the 
Admiral  of  the  President's  invitation  to  the  Western 
Tour  :  he  could  hardly  join  a  caravan  more  or  less 
directed  against  the  election  of  Mr.  McLean — so  near 
and  dear  to  his  hostess  and  his  wife-to-be. 

Politics  form  a  mighty  engine,  but  when  Cupid 
thrusts  a  spoke  betwixt  the  wheels  of  the  Juggernaut 
it  must  come  to  a  standstill. 

In  acknowledging  the  gift  of  his  countrymen, 
Dewey  said  his  heart  was  full  of  gratitude  for  such 
regard. 

The  honeymoon,  therefore,  is  reasonably  supposed 
to  have  more  to  do  in  canceling  his  engagements  to 
visit  various  places  than  the  plea  of  fatigue  after  so 
much  "  lionizing." 

Tired  with  his  Washington  week,  the  Admiral, 
after  a  quiet  Sabbath,  when  his  son  and  he  attended 
St.  John's  Church,  once  containing  his  pew,  traveled 
north  in  the  palace-car  Victory,  owned  by  the  man 
ager  of  the  Wagner  Car  Co.,  now  amalgamated  with 
the  Pullman.  He  went  through  New  York  tislecp  ; 
and  thence  by  the  "West  Shore  to  Albany,  for  Ver 
mont.  A  card  to  view  the  International  Yacht  race 
from  Lipton's  tender,  the  Erin,  had  to  be  declined. 


1 86  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

As  the  day  went  on,  the  news  spread  of  fche passage, 
and  guns  were  fired  at  the  crossings.  At  other 
points,  crowds  concentrated  to  cheer  and  wave  flags. 
Sitting  in  the  observation  car,  he  saw  the  unrivaled 
scenery  of  the  Hudson  and  marked  these  plentiful 
evidences  of  the  uncooling  popular  ardor. 

His  companions  were  his  son,  the  Governor  of 
Vermont,  and  Dr.  Seward  Webb,  railroad  magnate 
and  millionaire,  whose  guest  he  was  to  be  at  the  re 
nowned  stock  farm  of  Shelburne. 

At  the  station  he  was  met  by  one  of  the  scores  of 
traps.  He  was  driven  over  typical  Vermont  country 
until  he  reached  the  stately  entrance  to  the  estate, 
with  its  porters'  lodges  on  either  side,  as  in  the  Old 
Country. 

There  is  no  finer  country  drive  than  that  through 
the  grounds  to  Shelburne  House,  a  distance  of  four 
miles.  The  farms  comprise  nearly  4,000  acres,  2,000 
of  which  are  cleared.  The  roadway  is  of  stone  and 
beautifully  laid  out. 

Shelburne  House  itself  is  on  a  ridge  that  over 
looks  the  estate  and  Lake  Champlain.  It  is  a  long. 
rambling  Queen  Anne  structure  and  very  beautiful 
It  contains  more  than  sixty  rooms,  and  an  addition, 
is  building  which  will  make  it  the  largest  country 
house  in  America.  The  rooms  are  fitted  in  costly 
woods,  with  great  fireplaces.  It  is  heated  by  steam 
and  lighted  with  electricity. 

Shelburne  Farms  is  a  complete  community  in  it 
self.  It  has  its  own  fire  department ;  its  own  electric 
and  power  plant  for  the  whole  estate.  It  has  va 
rious  shops.  The  water  supply  is  sufficient  for  a 
town. 

Dr.  Webb  has  long  been  famous  tfa  a  breeder  of 
driving  horses.  The  great  farm  barn  has  a  ring 
378  feet  long  and  85  feet  wide  where  the  blooded 
horses  can  be  exercised  in  winter. 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  l8/ 

The  greenhouses  are  the  largest  and  finest  on  any 
private  estate  in  America,  and  especially  rich  in  rare 
plants.  Much  attention  is  given  to  violets  and  gar 
denias. 

From  hence,  Admiral  Dewey  arrived  in  Montpelier 
at  5:20  o'clock  on  the  llth  October.  From  Shelburrie 
to  the  capital,  at  all  the  small  towns  along  the  route, 
crowds  turned  out  to  cheer  the  Admiral  as  the  train 
Vnizzed  past.  As  Dewey's  car  was  backed  into  the 
depot  in  Montpelier  thousands  of  people  swarmed  the 
tracks.  The  Admiral  stepped  out  upon  the  rear  plat 
form,  and  lifted  his  hat  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
welcome  at  the  hands  of  his  townspeople. 

"  Ah,  these  are  Vermonters  !  "  he  said.  It  plainly 
showed  that  the  welcome  given  to  him  by  the  people 
of  his  own  State  was  dearer  to  him  than  that  of  all 
of  his  other  countrymen. 

Dewey  stood  looking  over  the  crowd  searching  for 
familiar  faces.  Suddenly  he  pointed  at  a  man  in 
the  crowd  :  "  There's  George  Goodwin/'  he  said. 
"  Sure  enough,  that's  Goodwin.  There's  the  old 
insurance  building."  (His  father's  institution.) 

"  Hello,  here  is  Edward.  Edward,  how  are  you, 
brother  ?  Say,  Edward,  you  will  have  to  make  a 
speech  to  these  good  people.  Come,  make  a  few  re 
marks." 

Edward  Dewey  could  not  make  a  speech.  The 
crowd  was  convulsed  with  laughter  as  the  two  broth 
ers  shook  hands. 

"  Welcome  home,  George.  You  cannot  imagine 
how  happy  we  all  are  to  see  you,"  Edward  replied, 
as  the  Admiral  assisted  him  up  the  steps  of  the  plat 
form. 

"  A  speech,  a  speech!  "  cried  a  thousand  men. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  Admiral,  "  I  am  no  speech- 
maker.  I  could  not  make  a  speech." 

"  That's  no  joke,  Admiral  ;  but  you  can  fight  to 


1 88  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

beat  the  band,"  yelled  a  small  boy.  Shaking  with 
laughter,  Dewey  vanished  from  the  platform. 

When  only  a  few  remained  about  the  train,  Dewey 
started  down  State  Street  toward  the  home  of  his 
brother,  Edward,  who  accompanied  him,  leaning 
upon  his  arm  for  support.  The  Admiral  was  pre 
ceded  by  Adjutant-General  Peck,  of  the  Vermont 
National  Guard,  who  cleared  a  path  through  gather 
ing  throngs  with  his  sheathed  sword. 

*'  Look  over  there,  George,"  said  Edward  Dewey, 
pointing  to  the  Montpelier  pavilion.  In  great  let 
ters  of  fire  were  the  words,  "  Welcome,  Dewey." 

"  It  is  all  grand — magnificent  !  "  Dewey  remarked. 

Edward  Dewey's  home  is  opposite  the  State  House, 
and  here  the  Admiral  stopped  and  bowed  again  to  the 
crowd  before  he  entered.  A  few  minutes  later  they 
were  joined  by  George  G.  Dewey,  the  Admiral's  son, 
Charles  Dewey,  another  brother  of  the  Admiral,  and 
other  members  of  the  Dewey  family.  Dinner  was 
served  with  no  one  outside  of  the  family  at  the  table. 

The  Admiral  said  that  he  was  delighted  with  his 
reception  in  Montpelier  and  that  he  hoped  the 
weather  would  be  fine.  "  I  will  be  glad  when  the 
celebration  is  over,"  he  said  "  for  I  am  very  tired." 

It  was  exhilarating  to  mingle  with  the  crowd  :  the 
elders  overflowed  with  reminiscences  of  their  dis 
tinguished  fellow-citizen,  and  the  young  ones  listened 
agape  or  stared  at  the  object  of  all  this  enthusiasm 
and  eulogy. 

Many  a  finger  pointed  tremulously  at  the  house 
where  "  our  "  Dewey  was  born  :  an  old  colonial  house 
moved  from  its  first  site.  Out  of  its  gates,  Mrs.  Dr. 
Dewey  used  to  emerge  in  a  low-swung  carriage  not 
unlike  a  heavier  Victoria,  which  caused  the  spectators 
of  the  equipage  and  the  solid  horses  in  silver-plated 
caparisons  to  say  : 

"  Here  comes  the  Queen  in  her  coach  ! " 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  189 

Graybeards  spoke  of  swimming  in  the  "  Inion  "  at 
a  pool  where  George  beat  the  band  by  "  staying  under 
water  the  longest !  ?J 

il  He  was  jes'  a  born,  nateral  athlete,  that  Dewey 
lad,  and  on  the  Meetin'  day  of  the  Legislator,  when  all 
the  youngsters  used  to  compete  out  thai*'  on  the 
green  in  all  kinds  of  rastlin'  and  pulley-hauliiis,  that 
boy  would  floor  every  mortal  son  !  " 

Some  hummed  the  musty  song  by  Dibdin,  which 
used  to  make  our  gran'thers'  eyes  water,  "  The  Son 
of  a  Tar,"  and  affirmed  that  it  was  a  favorite  of 
Dewey's  and  had  turned  his  head  seaward. 

One  old  merchant,  who  had  been  a  schoolmate  of 
his,  related  that  once  when  the  boy  had  proclaimed 
his  ambition  to  travel  the  world  over  and  make  ac 
quaintance  with  the  rulers  of  Europe — the  witty 
teacher  had  flourished  his  ruler  of  ebony,  and  cried  : 

"  There  is  one  American  ruler  you  will  make  the 
acquaintance  of  before  you  do  of  them  !  " 

And  all  laughed  !  The  Yankee  does  not  laugh 
often  or  for  long,  but  when  he  does  you  can  hear  him  ! 

So  it  was  all  mirth  at  Montpelier  over  the  prodigal's 
return,  glittering  with  glory  ! 

Old  ministers  who  ought  to  have  been  less  excited 
over  a  man  of  war  repeated  Dr.  Dewey's  advice  to  his 
son,  like  to  Polonius'  : 

"  Never  fight  ;  but — when  you  do,  fight  your  utter 
most  ! " 

More  easily  recalled  Dewey's  visit  in  '84,  when 
his  mustache  was  dark,  not  snowy,  and  he  looked  stern 
under  his  bushy  brows  so  that  the  little  ones  to  whom 
he  was  always  tender,  shrank  at  the  first  from  him 
until  he  hacl  time  to  win  their  hearts.  Then  he  was 
"  Uncle  Captain  "  to  them  ;  they  were  mothers  of 
families  now,  and  to  those  duplicates  of  themselves 
were  reciting  these  anecdotes. 

After  the  day  at  home,  among  his  near  connections, 


THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

was  a  public  day,  garnished  with  reviews,  the  largest 
procession  ever  known  in  the  Green  Mountain  State, 
choruses  of  school-children  whose  sweet  voices  affected 
him  to  the  core,  "  Salutes  to  the  Flag,"  presentation 
of  the  State  keepsake,  his  likeness  jeweled  with  dia 
monds,  and  in  the  evening  fireworks,  including  a  bon 
fire  of  a  pyramid  of  tar-barrels  fifteen  layers  high, 
the  blaze  of  which  threw  into  the  shade  the  illumi 
nation  of  the  State  House  dome.  Montpelier  has  a 
normal  population  of  eight  thousand — it  contained 
fifty  thousand  Vermonters  who  simply  went  cranky 
with  patriotic  delirium. 

The  salute  was  fired  from  two  guns  recovered  from 
the  Castilla,  one  of  those  Spanish  vessels  sunk  in 
Manila  Bay. 

At  midnight,  when  the  last  reveler  had  hardly 
more  than  retired  from  the  rare  festival,  the  Ad 
miral  and  his  select  party  left  Montpelier,  and,  in 
the  morning,  awoke  at  Northfield,  to  the  roar  of 
seventeen  guns,  an  Admiral's  salute,  fired  by  the 
cadets  of  the  University,  where  he  spent  three  years 
(1851-1854),  before  passing  on  to  the  Annapolis 
Naval  Academy.  In  1808  this  institution  conferred 
on  "our  Chevalier  Bayard  of  the  Navy  "  (says  Com 
modore  Stratton)  the"  degree  of  B.  S.  for  "  honor 
able  cause." 

His  "  nursing  mother,"  Norwich  (since,  North- 
field)  Military  Academy  (now  a  University),  trained 
for  the  military  profession  as  well  as  for  higher 
education. 

Founded  in  1819,  at  the  close  of  our  War  with 
Great  Britain,  when  it  was  proven  that  we  were 
without  preparation  for  officering  the  troops,  the 
West  Point  graduate,  Captain  Partidge,  who  was  its 
superintendent,  sent  qualified  juniors  into  the  army 
in  Mexico  and,  in  the  Civil  War,  its  graduates  were 
numerous  enough  for  a  company  by  themselves. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  IQI, 

Their  names  were  set  upon  the  triumphant  columns' 
through  which  Dewey  was  conducted  by  the  cadets, 
at  the  proper  hour.  In  the  interval,  he  strolled 
about  the  town  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  its' 
chief  citizens  and  renewed  that  of  old  friends  flock 
ing  to  the  place.  The  University  stands  on  rising 
ground,  and  the  immense  body  of  spectators  could 
see  the  prominent  guests  arrive  for  the  exercises  of 
laying  the  corner-stone,  by  Dewey's  own  hand.  In 
May  last,  the  turf  had  been  cut  by  Captain  Clark,  of 
the  celebrated  circumnavigating  cruiser  Oregon. 

"  Vermont's  greatest  son "  laid  the  stone  in  a 
workmanlike  manner,  "according  to  his  wish." 
This  was  a  boulder  brought  here  in  olden  times  by 
the  glacial  wave,  and  was  set  on  another  from  the 
old  school  at  Norwich. 

The  new  edifice  is  to  be  of  native  granite,  in  classi 
cal  style,  the  elevation  attained  by  a  hall  with  ro 
tunda.  In  the  center  is  to  be  a  Dewey  statue. 

The  orator  of  the  day  was  Senator  Depew,  who  is 
almost  the  mouthpiece  of  America — or,  at  least, 
the  Europeans  whom  he  enchants,  esteem  him  so. 
Chauncey  M.  Depew,  then,  made  one  of  his  most 
happy  efforts,  almost  in  the  shade  of  an  elm-tree 
under  which  the  delinquent  students  have  to  march 
in  full  inarching  order,  musket  on  shoulder  !  It  is 
not  said  that  our  hero  had  to  do  so,  but  it  is  feared, 
as  he  certainly  is  the  typical  American,  who  is 
always  the  "  worst  boy  in  school." 

The  text  of  this  speech  might  have  been  Gover 
nor  Goodwin's  sibylline  utterance  upon  his  son-in- 
law  : 

<f  Dewey  is  full  of  grit  and  honesty,  and  will  be 
heard  of  one  of  these  days  ! " 

During  the  impressive  ceremony,  a  painting  of 
the  Olympia  wae  exhibited  and  presented  to  her 
commander. 


THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 


Throughout  the  sunny  day  the  guest  was  escorted 
by  the  proud  cadets,  to  whom  he  was  a  vivid  ex 
ample, 


CHAPTER  XXL 

SENATOR   DEPEW'S  ADDRESS   TO  ADMIRAL  DEWEY,   AT 
NORTHFIELD,  VERMONT,    OCTOBER   13,  1899. 


. . 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY,  Governor  and  Legislators ; 
Gentlemen  of  the  Faculty,  and  Students  :  The 
greetings  and  applause  which  accompanied  Admiral 
Dewey  around  the  world,  the  welcome  and  triumphal 
processions  of  his  grateful  countrymen,  the  imposing 
ceremonies  at  the  National  Capital  and  the  capital 
of  his  native  State,  have  their  fitting  close  at  the 
University  where  the  foundations  of  his  fame  were 
laid.  He  returns  from  his  victories  to  his  Alma 
Mater  and  lays  his  laurels  upon  her  shrine.  Here 
precept  and  example,  teaching  and  tradition,  made 
the  man.  The  home-coming  of  the  alumnus  during 
commencement  days  to  the  University  is  always  an 
interesting  incident  in  his  life,  but  when  he  comes 
back  crowned  with  glory  and  honor  to  acknowledge 
his  debt,  the  old  college  has  fresh  inspiration  for  her 
sons. 

DEWEY'S  EARLY  AMBITION. 

"Forty-five  years  ago  a  young  man  was  graduated 
from  here  and  entered  the  Naval  Academy  at  Anna 
polis.  At  this  institution  he  had  found  the  bent  of 
his  mind  and  decided  upon  his  career.  The  allure 
ments  of  commerce  and  fortune  did  not  tempt  him. 
The  pathways  of  the  professions  and  industrial  pre 
ferment  which  attracted  most  of  the  youth  of  America 
had  no  charms  for  young  Dewey.  To  win  his  way 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  193 

in  the  service  of  his  country  was  his  ambition.  The 
period  of  his  active  life  is  the  most  wonderful  half 
century  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  is  the  era 
of  invention,  of  discovery,  of  the  utilization  of  the 
forces  of  nature  to  the  service  of  mankind.  The 
rapid  evolution  and  development  of  the  arts  and  in 
dustries  have  piled  up  gigantic  fortunes  for  the  able, 
far-sighted  and  adventurous.  The  contention  and 
competition  for  great  wealth  have  absorbed  the  best 
talent  and  the  vital  energies  of  the  people.  The  hot 
race  for  money  has  drawn  the  strongest  from  every 
walk  in  life.  To  get  rich  has  seemed  to  foreign  and 
domestic  observers  the  sole  teachings  of  our  schools, 
and  its  rewards  of  luxury  and  power  the  most  satis 
factory  attainments. 

"  After  nearly  fifty  years  George  Dewey  is  again 
upon  the  old  campus  and  treading  these  venerable 
halls  possessed  of  little  more  of  accumulated  wealth 
than  when  he  left.  His  gift  to  his  college  far  sur 
passes  the  value  of  endowments  and  buildings.  It 
is  the  example  for  all  time  of  the  Norwich  student, 
who,  without  influence  or  assistance,  by  his  stead 
fastness,  pluck  and  genius,  became 

THE  HERO  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVT 

and  the  conqueror  of  a  new  world  for  his  country. 

<(  This  day  is  an  influence  in  breaking  the  spell  of 
gross  materialism  which  binds  the  closing  year  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  It  opens  for  the  twentieth 
nobler  aims  and  higher  ideals.  The  ingenuous  youth 
can  see  that  comfort,  happiness  and  fame  are  pos 
sible  in  art  and  letters,  in  the  service  of  humanity 
and  the  service  of  the  country.  We  are  to  become 
broader  and  more  liberal  in  our  associations.  Wealth 
is  to  find  that  it  is  honored  by  artists,  statesmen, 
jurists,  men  and  women  of  letters,  educators  and 
13 


194  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

officers  of  the  army  and  navy  being  invited  to  partici 
pate  in  the  social  opportunities  which  money  gives. 
The  pleasures  of  the  fortunate  are  to  be  enormously 
enriched  by  the  presence  of  achievement  and  genius 
from  many  departments  under  hospitable  roofs. 

THE  CHARACTERISTIC  OF  OUR  TIME 

is  the  equal  struggle  for  social  position  and  material 
gain.  There  is,  unfortunately,  a  widespread  belief 
that  society  recognizes  only  people  of  large  incomes 
and  lavish  expenditures.  Let  the  barriers  of  exclu- 
wveness  be  lowered  for  the  worthy  and  cultured, 
for  those  distinguished  in  public  life  and  the  profes 
sions,  for  talent  which  adds  to  the  improvement, 
enjoyment  and  education  of  the  people,  and  the 
ambitions  of  the  student  will  see  other  careers  than 
the  congested  avenues  of  trade  or  the  perils  of  specu 
lation. 

FORTUNE  CAME  LATE. 

"  The  life  of  Admiral  Dewey  is  a  manual  for  the 
young  American,  It  demonstrates  that  work  and 
thoroughness  are  the  essentials  of  success.  Oppor 
tunity — or  accident,  if  you  please — happens  to  every 
one.  If  ready,  he  seizes  upon  it  and  his  career  is 
made.  If  unprepared,  it  passes  by  and  rarely  re 
turns.  General  Grant  was  an  excellent  cadet,  and  in 
the  Mexican  campaign  mastered  the  art  of  war. 
His  talent  was  for  the  tented  field,  and  not  the  pur 
suits  of  peace.  He  was  a  poor  farmer  and  a  worse 
tanner.  At  forty  the  opportunity  came  and  found 
him  ready.  Faithful  preparation  made  him  com 
mand  success,  and  with  the  fall  of  the  Confederacy 
the  world  recognized  the  foremost  soldier  of  the 
age. 

"  Lincoln  became  President  at  fifty-one.     He  met 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  195 

and  triumphantly  solved  the  most  difficult  problems 
ever  presented  to  an  American  President.  But  by 
a  quarter  of  a  century  of  patient  labor  in  Legislature 
and  Congress,  in  his  study  and  in  Titanic  debate,  he 
had  mastered  all  the  questions  which  were  to  be  de 
cided  during  the  periods  of  civil  war  and  reconstruc 
tion.  Admiral  Dewey  was  sixty  before  fortune 
confronted  him. 

"He  left  this  University  with  honor.  He  had  a 
creditable  record  at  the  Military  Academy  at  Anna 
polis.  He  did  daring  and  brilliant  deeds  on  the 
Mississippi  and  learned  invaluable  lessons  under  that 
grand  old  naval  hero  of  the  Civil  War,  Admiral  Far- 
ragut.  At  sea  and  on  land,  on  his  ship  and  in  the 
Navy  Department  at  AYashington,  with  resistless  en 
ergy  and  intelligent  work,  he  became  known  as  the 
most  thorough  and  able  officer  in  both  the  theory 
and  practise  of  naval  warfare.  The  idle  days,  the 
wasted  hours,  the  health-wrecking  dissipations  which 
account  for  most  of  the  failures  in  a  career  were  never 
the  experience  of  this  enthusiast  in  his  profession. 
He  had  no  faith  in  luck  or  chance,  or  accident  or 
genius.  He  believed  in  work.  His  ideals  were  to 
have  a  great  opportunity  and  be  so  thoroughly 
equipped  for  every  contingency  that  fate  must  sur 
render  to  preparation. 

WHAT  LED  TO  YICTORY. 

"The  threescore  milestone  was  behind  and  the 
retiring  limit  near  when  Commodore  Dewey  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  Asiatic  Squadron.  A 
message  was  received  at  Hong  Kong  from  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  that  war  had  broken  out  with 
Spain,  and  the  Commodore  must  at  once  go  to  se;i 
and  find  and  capture  or  destroy  the  Spanish  fleet. 
Edward  Everett  Hale's  story  of  the  man  without  a 


196  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

country  has  interested  generations  of  readers.  With 
Commodore  Dewey  were  the  fascinating  possibilities 
and  perils  of  a  fleet  without  home  or  port.  He  was 
6,000  miles  from  the  United  States,  and  the  neutral 
ity  laws  closed  for  him  friendly  harbors,  and  needed 
supplies  were  contraband  of  war. 

( '  Manila  was  the  fortified  harbor  of  the  enemy,  and 
in  it  were  the  warships  of  Spain.  Its  channels  were 
mined,  its  forts  manned  with  modern  guns,  and  the 
Spanish  fleet  was  superior  in  numbers  and  ordnance. 
But  there  were  the  harbor  he  wanted,  the  supplies 
he  required,  the  ships  he  was  ordered  to  capture  or 
destroy.  During  a  week  of  great  anxiety  for  his 
countrymen  we  only  knew  that  the  Commodore  was 
sailing  over  the  Pacific  Ocean  seeking  his  mission. 
On  the  seventh  day  the  world  was  electrified  by  the 
message  that  he  had  destroyed  the  Spanish  fleet,  and 
Manila  was  at  his  mercy.  The  splendor  of  the 
achievement  and  the  completeness  of  the  victory 
were  the  result  of  that  thoroughness  of  plan  and  de 
tail  whose  habit  was  formed  within  these  walls,  and 
that  undisputed  leadership  in  his  profession  won  by 
eager  devotion  to  its  study  and  the  grasp  and  use  of 
progress  and  invention.  The  fogy  becomes  a  bar 
nacle,  but  Dewey  is  always  up-to-date — often  ahead. 

THE   TRIAL   PERIOD. 

"  The  trial  period  of  a  successful  commander  is 
after  the  battle.  Then  his  wisdom  and  capacity 
have  their  supreme  test.  Diplomacy  must  veil  the 
gun.  Grant's  terms  to  Lee  after  Appomattcx  sur 
passed  his  victories.  In  the  Bay  of  Manila  were  the 
fleets  of  the  great  Powers  of  Europe.  All  but  one 
were  hostile  or  jealous  of  the  Republic  of  the  West, 
whose  startling  advent  might  compel  a  rearrange 
ment  of  their  plans  for  the  division  of  the  East.  On 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEV.  197 

shore  were  the  Spanish  army,  to  be  held  in  check 
until  troops  could  arrive  from  America,  and  insur 
gent  forces  with  wild  and  passionate  eagerness  to 
execute  vengeance  upon  their  oppressors  by  fire  and 
sword  and  rapine.  The  sole  responsibility  for  the 
control  of  the  situation  rested  with  Commodore 
Dewey.  Foreign  Admirals  were  kept  within  bounds 
by  firmness  which  meant  force.  The  Spanish  army 
surrendered.  The  natives  respected  the  wishes  of  a 
victor  whom  they  feared  and  of  a  wise  friend  whom 
they  learned  to  love.  Commissioned  to  capture  a 
fleet,  he  had  conquered  an  empire  for  his  country. 
"  His  task  completed,  he  sails  for  home. 

THE   TRIUMPHAL    HOMECOMING. 

fi  There  is  no  parallel  in  history  of  this  triumphal 
march.  As  his  ship  carries  his  flag  more  than  half 
way  around  the  globe,  he  is  greeted  at  every  port  in 
every  country  with  the  honors  due  the  naval  hero  of 
our  time.  He  is  met  as  he  enters  the  superb  gate 
way  of  our  land  at  New  York  by  the  loving  welcome 
of  70,000,000  of  his  countrymen.  On  bay  and  river 
our  warships,  our  merchant  marine,  and  our  pleas 
ure  yachts  dip  their  pennants  and  pass  in  review. 

"The  Statue  of  Liberty  illumines  harbor  and  shore 
with  the  brilliancy  of  her  greeting  to  the  worthiest 
of  her  exemplars  and  apostles.  The  procession 
escorting  him  through  the  streets  of  the  metropolis 
is  not  a  Roman  triumph  with  the  spoils  of  subju 
gated  peoples  and  with  captives  chained  to  the 
chariot  wheels  of  the  conqueror.  The  cheering 
millions  along  the  route  voice  the  acclaim  of  the 
whole  people  for  the  American  who  has  done  so 
much  for  his  country,  and  the  sailor  whose  deeds 
have  given  greater  luster  to  our  navy,  whose  record 
has  always  been  illustrious.  The  presentation  of  the 


198  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

sword  voted  by  Congress  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  in  the  presence  of  the  Cabinet,  the  Su 
preme  Court,  the  Senate,  and  the  House  of  Kepre- 
sentatives  at  the  Capitol  was  the  crowning  glory  of 
this  marvelous  ovation. 

"  Not  yet  its  culmination  and  its  lesson  ;  not  yet. 
That  is  reserved  for  his  Alma  Mater.  I  saw  Grant 
from  Appoinattox  and  Sherman  from  the  march  to 
the  sea  at  West  Point.  There  was  an  affectionate 
significance  in  the  welcome  and  approval  of  the 
old  Academy  which  no  pageant  could  give.  The 
splendors  of  the  decorations,  the  brave  array  of 
saluting  soldiers  and  sailors  have  passed  ;  the  echoes 
of  the  guns  and  strains  of  martial  music  have  died 
away.  With  the  associations  and  surroundings  of 
this  seat  of  learning  the  Faculty  and  students  receive 
their  fellow  student  and  honored  alumnus.  The 
building  which  will  arise  upon  the  corner-stone  now 
laid  by  Admiral  Dewey  will  remain  for  unnumbered 
generations  as  a  monument  to  the  advantages  of  a 
liberal  education  and  the  possibilities  of  American 
citizenship. 

THE    FRUIT    OF   VICTORY. 

' '  The  benefits  of  a  college  course  are  not  all  found 
in  text-books,  lectures  and  the  library.  They  are 
the  tools  for  use  in  practical  life,  but  can  be  had 
outside  of  the  university.  The  contact  and  attrition 
of  ingenuous  minds  seeking  the  truth  break  the 
fetters  of  prejudice  and  provincialism,  and  cultivate 
the  cosmopolitan  spirit  which  is  necessary  for  suc 
cess  at  this  time  when  the  telegraph  brings  all  the 
world  in  daily  communication.  To  learn  where  and 
how  to  find  quickly  the  history,  facts,  cases  and 
subjects  required  is  liberal  learning.  The  impress 
of  great  teachers  upon  susceptible  youth  is  felt  in 
nobler  aims  and  purer  ideals  all  through  life.  But 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  199 

the  inspiration  of  living,  breathing  and  working 
where  the  famous  among  the  Alumni  were  college 
boys  is  of  incalculable  value.  Their  spirits  are  ever 
present  in  rooms  and  halls,  at  recitations,  and  on 
the  campus.  Every  university  man  echoes  Kip 
ling's  sentiment : 

"  Bless  and  praise  we  famous  men- 
Men  of  little  showing  ! 
For  their  work  continueth, 
And  their  work  continueth, 
Broad  and  deep  continueth, 
Great  beyond  their  knowing." 

"The  victory  of  Admiral  Dewey  has  a  far  wider 
significance  than  the  heroism  of  the  fight.  It  opened 
a  new  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  United  States. 
The  lifting  of  the  cloud  of  battle-smoke  from  the 
waters  of  Manila  Bay  revealed  a  new  and  potential 
power  in  the  affairs  of  the  world.  The  class  which 
graduates  here  next  June  enters  upon  a  larger  citizen 
ship  than  any  of  its  predecessors.  A  Avar  begun  by 
the  United  States  for  humanity  and  liberty  ended  in 
the  conquest  and  cession  of  a  rich  and  populous  terri 
tory  in  the  East.  At  the  very  hour  when  our  indus 
trial  development  and  surplus  productions  demand 
the  benefit  of  expanding  markets,  we  become  by  the 
Providence  of  God 

NEIGHBOR  TO  THE  ORIENT 

and  its  limitless  possibilities.  After  three  hundred 
years  of  oppression  and  spoliation  by  the  Spaniards, 
after  centuries  of  promises  made  to  be  broken,  the  in 
habitants  of  the  Philippine  Islands  distrust  {ill  profes 
sions.  The  good  faith  with  which  we  are  fulfilling 
our  pledges  in  Cuba  will  ultimately  become  known  in 
every  island  in  the  archipelago,  The  Gem  of  the 


200  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

Antilles  is  feeling  the  thrill  of  liberty.  Under  the 
beneficent  rule  of  law  and  order  she  is  experiencing 
peace,  prosperity  and  progress.  We  are  leading  her 
to  independence  as  the  mother  does  her  child,  and 
at  each  more  confident  step  we  loosen  our  firm  but 
affectionate  hold  for  her  education  and  safety. 

FUTURE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES. 

"We  must  first  subdue  the  rebellion.  The  more 
quickly,  the  more  energetically  and  the  more  over 
whelming  the  force  with  which  it  is  done,  the  more 
merciful  will  be  the  war  and  the  earlier  will  come 
the  regeneration  of  the  Philippines.  The  demon 
stration  for  a  brief  period  of  a  Government  which 
gives  protection  to  life  and  property,  which  grants 
liberty  and  law,  which  plants  schoolhouses  and  en 
courages  thrift,  will  be  conditions  for  happiness  they 
have  never  experienced  and  only  vaguely  imagine 
possible  through  the  anarchy  they  would  now  inaug 
urate.  Manila,  Santiago  and  San  Juan  have  won 
the  respect  of  Europe  for  our  fighting  qualities,  but 
our  statesmanship  and  staying  powers  are  on  trial  in 
every  Cabinet  in  the  Old  World.  When  civil  and 
religious  liberty  was  in  peril  before  the  united  assault 
of  all  the  great  monarchs  of  the  Continent,  William 
of  Orange,  in  undertaking  their  defense,  registered 
the  simple  oath, 

'  I  WILL  MAINTAIN/ 

His  was  a  gigantic  task  against  frightful  odds.  We 
are  for  the  time  being  the  custodians  of  civilization 
in  our  new  possessions  against  a  foe  whose  defeat  is 
inevitable,  and  for  a  people  who,  released  from  the 
thrall  of  savage  leaders  and  brought  under  the  in 
fluences  of  peace,  will  become  loyal  and  productive 
citizens. 


OF   ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  2OI 

"  Pride  in  one's  State  is  like  love  for  the  old  home 
stead.  The  absorbing  duties  of  his  later  life  and 
tremendous  events  in  which  he  has  been  so  distin* 
guished  an  actor  have  never  weakened  the  affection 
nor  weaned  the  interest  of  Dewey  from  Vermont. 
His  heart  has  been  ever  full  of  the  simple  lives  and 
homely  virtues  of  this  staid  old  New  England  Com 
monwealth.  Her  soil  might  not  yield  as  rich  returns 
to  the  husbandman  as  the  prairie  farms  of  the  West, 
but  her  marble  and  granite  have  always  furnished 
tombstones  for  her  invaders  and  statues  for  her 
heroes.  Forty  years  ago,  standing  as  a  young  cadet 
in  the  Capitol  at  Montpelier  and  gazing  upon  the 
statue  of  Ethan  Allen,  he  exclaimed  : 

"  'Life  can  achieve  no  greater  reward  than  that.' 
He  has  won  that  reward.  Beside  the  hero  of  Ticon- 
deroga  will  stand  a  companion  figure.  Under  the 
one  will  be  the  immortal  words  which  began  the  first 
victory  of  our  Eevolutionary  War  :  '  I  demand  your 
surrender  in  the  name  of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the 
Continental  Congress/  and  under  the  other,  the 
statue  of  Admiral  Dewey,  the  sentence  which  opened 
the  gates  of  the  Orient  for  his  country  :  (  You  may 
fire  when  you  are  ready,  Gridley.'  '• 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  GRAVE  YANKEES  BUBBLE  OYEE. — SPLENDOR  ON 
SPLENDOR. — THE  FIGHT  FOR  REST. — ADDENDA  TO 
THE  TOAST. — THE  MARITAL  ENGAGEMENT. — THE 
HIGHEST  GIFT  IN  OUR  DISPOSAL. 

THE  Second  City  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  was  now 
to  offer  its  tribute  and  swell  the  note  of  jubilee. 
From  Xorthfield  to  that  point;  the  special  train 


202  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

ran  on  its  own  schedule  so  that  everything  was  side 
tracked  as  the  illustrious  passenger  shot  along.  It 
was  ever  the  same  spontaneous  blessing  and  congrat 
ulating.  Shots  from  old  muzzle-loaders  and  blun 
derbusses  alternated  with  those  from  cannon  that 
might  have  been  in  the  Revolution.  At  some  points, 
factory  hands  quitted  the  mills  to  line  the  depot 
platforms  ;  at  others,  students,  as  at  Dartmouth — all 
were  whooping  and  demonstrative.  At  each  such 
spot  the  train  slowed  up  or  some  one  must  have  been 
crushed.  In  reply  to  the  Dartmouth  "yell/'  the 
Admiral  drolly  remarked :  "  You  will  own  the 
country  some  day  ! " 

Whistles,  "  buzzers  "  and  bells  sounded  from  mills 
and  their  innumerable  windows  were  blocked  up  with 
the  women  arid  men  hanging  out  with  frenetic  ap 
plause.  When  he  went  through  there,  at  the  out 
break  of  the  Civil  War,  the  sight  was  of  another 
guise  ;  the  windows  blazed  with  gas,  as  the  hands 
were  toiling  night  and  da}7  making  ammunition  and 
arms  for  the  approaching  conflict.  Better  the  happy 
faces  and  the  smiling  lips  than  those  iron  and  brazen 
mouths  of  the  war-dogs  ! 

From  Lowell  to  Boston,  the  tracks  were  hedged 
with  people. 

The  railroad  station  could  not  contain  the  swarms, 
twenty-five  thousand  within  the  walls  and  out-build 
ings,  with  twice  as  many  in  the  adjacent  streets, 
craning  and  tiptoeing  to  catch  a  glimpse.  When  he 
came  forth,  he  was  almost  carried  off  his  feet,  spite 
of  police  and  soldiers.  They  wanted  to  "chair" 
him,  to  shoulder  him  and  bear  him  off  to  the  Hotel 
Touraine,  where  he  was  to  spend  three  days. 

To  permit  all  to  share  in  the  duty,  his  escort  was 
changed  ;  now  it  was  the  Veterans  of  the  Civil  War, 
now  those  of  the  Navy,  and  then  of  the  Spanish- 
American  War, 


OF   ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  2O3 

The  streets  were  profusely  decorated,  though  not 
with  the  ensemble  imposed  on  New  York.  At  night, 
red  and  blue  port-fire  painted  the  sea  of  faces  and 
draped  house-fronts  ;  the  Hall  looked  like  a  great 
bouquet,  with  its  tapestry. 

On  the  Common,  fireworks  were  displayed  so  that 
the  Admiral  could  see  their  splendor  from  his  own 
windows. 

The  next  day  he  reviewed  the  whole  of  the  State 
Militia,  and  a  civic  procession  defiled  before  him. 
The  City  presented  him  with  a  jeweled  keepsake,  a 
$1,000  watch,  with  his  likeness  set  with  diamonds, 
appended  to  a  chain,  with  locket  and  charm,  all  on 
a  silver  salver  on  which  was  engraved  the  Freedom 
of  the  City.  There  was  also  the  ceremony  of  recep 
tion  of  the  colors  of  the  regiments  whicli  had  gone 
through  the  Cuban  Campaign. 

There  was  a  lunch  at  a  millionaire's  mansion. 

The  Olympias  crew  were  not  omitted  ;  after  figur 
ing  prominently  in  the  march,  they  were  dined  at 
the  State  Armory.  It  was  trite,  but  nobody  was 
tired  yet  of  hearing  from  their  lips  that  the  Admiral, 
although  a  disciplinarian,  was  reluctant  to  punish 
and  tolerant  to  Jack's  "sky-larking."  They  were 
feasted  "chock-a-block  !" 

In  the  streets,  the  Admiral's  carriage  was  filled 
with  posies  ;  and  he  found  at  his  hotel  all  the  rooms 
hampered  with  floral  devices.  At  the  club  banquet 
in  his  name,  no  speeches  were  expected,  but  his 
health  was  drunk  with  heartiness. 

Again  he  was  much  affected  by  the  grand  choir  of 
school-children  singing,  just  as  Lafayette  and  Gen 
eral  Moreau  owned  to  the  same  feeling  of  weakness 
which  youthful,  innocent  voices  produce. 

"  It  is  the  most  refreshing  sight  ever  seen  ! "  he 
remarked  to  Mayor  Quincy. 

In  the  evening,  not  surfeited  but  regaled  amply, 


204  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

he  set  out  for  the   National  Capital  which,  as  his 
house  was  ready,  was  indefinitely  his  home. 

'•*Tis  home  where'er  the    heart  is — where'er   the  loved 
ones  dwell." 

A  witticism  went  the  rounds  which  chimed  in 
with  his  sentiments  : 

"  Dewey  has  to  fight  harder  here  than  in  Manila  !  " 
-"  Fight  ?  What  for  ?  »--«|  For  rest  !  " 

Here  his  friends  were  waiting  for  him,  not  sorry 
that  he  would  go  nowhere  else,  and  repeating  the 
encore  verses  which  the  author  had  added  to  the 
lines  given  out  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  the 
Asiatic  seas  : 

"  Along  the  far  Philippine  coast, 
Where  flew  the  flag  of  Spain, 
Our  Commodore  to-day  can  boast 
'  'Twill  never  fly  again.' 

"  And  up  from  all  our  hills  and  vales, 

From  city,  town,  and  shore, 
A  mighty  shout  the  welkin  hails  : 
'  Well  done,  brave  Commodore  ! ' 

"Now  let  your  Admiral's  pennant  fly, 

You've  won  it  like  a  man, 
Where  heroes  love  to  fight  and  die, 
Right  in  the  battle's  van." 

His  mail  had  accumulated,  but  was  rapidly  lower 
ing  under  the  nimble  hands  of  his  secretaries,  Calcl- 
well  and  Brumby.  With  his  return,  the  latter  could 
be  spared  to  go  home,  to  Georgia,  where  he  would 
represent  his  superior,  and  receive  his  own  sword  of 
honor. 

All  appeals  from  the  country  that  he  might  be 
farther  seen  by  his  fellow-countrymen  were  blocked 
\>j  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Long,  at  the  end  of 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  205 

October,  ordering  the  Admiral  on  special  duty  at 
the  Department. 

The  Philippine  Commissio>n  was  reassembling, 
and  the  Victor  of  Manila  was  indispensable  for  their 
decision  and  investigations. 

Besides,  there  was  another  reason  for  his  wishing 
to  stay  in  Washington  and  test  the  comfort  of  his 
house, — the  national  present. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  October  the  Admiral  was  at 
the  Lafayette-Square  Theater,  with  Major  Ferguson, 
ex- Minister  to  Norway  and  Sweden,  when  he  was 
pointed  out  as  a  Benedict  no  longer. 

It  was  at  last  authoritatively  stated,  by  his  nearest 
friends,  that  he  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Mrs. 
General  W.  B.  Hazen,  the  widow  of  the  noted  signal 
service  chief-officer  of  the  U.  S.  N.  He  died  about 
ten  years  ago,  leaving  a  son  who  was  killed  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse,  over  a  year  since,  which  caused  pro 
found  sorrow  among  the  Hazen  relatives  and  acquaint 
ances.  After  that,  the  widow  lived  in  retirement, 
at  Washington,  in  one  of  her  own  houses,  the  hand 
somest  of  the  Capital,  and  in  a  charming  country 
retreat  near  the  city. 

The  announcement  was  first  made  to  ex-Secretary 
Herbert  of  the  Navy  and  afterwards  to  the  Congress 
man  who  headed  the  Tennessee  delegation  praying 
Dewey  to  visit  Nashville  ;  this  prior  engagement,  of 
course,  provided  him  with  a  conclusive  excuse. 
But  the  hailing  him  at  the  playhouse  was  a  public 
avowal  which  delighted  a  Avider  audience. 

She  is  the  daughter  of  Mrs.  Washington  McLean 
and  sister  of  the  Ohioan  gubernatorial  candidate 
(Democratic),  and,  since  she  laid  aside  her  mourning- 
weeds,  she  has  been  the  center  of  gaiety. 

Among  the  aspirants  to  her  hand  are  cited  General 
Schofield  and  General  Corbin,  but  all  these  stories 
were  at  once  dashed  into  shadow, 


206  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

The  applause  which  had  rung  through  the  play 
house  was  redoubled  when  Dewey  was  seen  receiving 
the  congratulations  of  the  Cabinet  officers  who 
happened  (?)  to  be  present,  and  of  his  friends,  as 
well  known  in  society  of  all  stripes,  naval,  military 
and  political. 

Rear-Admiral  Schley  was  among  the  first  to  enter 
the  Dewey  box,  and  was  heartily  cheered. 

The  marriage  will  be  performed  by  a  high  prelate 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  of  which  Mrs.  Hazen 
lately  became  a  member. 

As  Mrs.  Hazen  has  always  moved  in  the  political 
atmosphere  of  Washington,  and  is  understood  to 
cherish  lofty  ambitions,  the  hope  is  revived  that  the 
Admiral  will  accept  nomination  for  the  Presidency. 
It  is  true  that  he  has  himself  said  that  all  his  train 
ing  made  him  a  sailor  and  not  a  politician,  but  what 
has  that  to  do  with  it  ?  On  the  contrary,  it  will  be 
a  refreshing  novelty  to  have  a  President  after  the 
precedent  of  Jackson,  Taylor  and  Lincoln. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

OUR  DIVERSIFIED  HOLDINGS.— ABORIGINES  ANI> 
THEIR  RIVALS. — SULUS,  IGORROTES  AND  TAGALS- 
—MEN  VOWED  TO  KILL. — CONTESTED  POLICY. — A 
FREE  PHILIPPINES  ! 

THE  touchstone  which  allows  us  to  form  a  true 
judgment  of  Aguinaldo,  whether  a  Washington  for 
his  race  or  an  Aaron  Burr,  would  enable  the  whole 
future  of  the  Philippines  to  be  gauged  and  dealt 
with.  Unfortunately,  he  has  lately  had  no  intimates 
of  our  kind.  To  speak  of  him  as  he  is  found,  is  im- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DE\VEY.  20; 

possible,  since  those  who  knew  him  at  the  com 
mencement  of  our  relations  with  him  and  had  a  good 
opinion  of  him  have  recanted  or  are  silent  from  fear 
that  they  were  deceived  or  that  he  has  altered. 

Admiral  Dewey  must  have  thought  fairly  of  him 
or  never  would  he  have  armed  him  to  beat  off  the 
Spanish  land  forces. 

At  the  outset  of  the  Philippine  War,  he  was  favor 
able,  and  he  comprehends  the  Orientals.  He  said 
that  the  Tagalo  President  behaved  very  honorably 
in  the  Spanish  Pacification.  General  Whittier  as 
sures  us  that  he  refused  money  even  for  personal 
expenses  when  he  was  returning  home  to  help  the 
Americans. 

Our  consuls  who  came  in  contact  with  him  con 
sidered  him  a  real  friend  to  our  side. 

But,  after  six  or  eight  months,  the  portrait 
changes. 

Admiral  Dewey,  towards  the  close  of  1899,  which 
means,  his  words  are  the  fruit  of  reflection,  says, 
decidedly — one  may  believe  decisively  : 

"  The  people  of  the  Philippines  are  incapable  of 
self-government.  Aguinaldo  and  his  self-seeking, 
scheming,  conspiring  followers  must  not  be  mistaken 
for  great  patriots  who  are  fighting  for  their  liberties. 
They  must  not  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath  with 
the  founders  of  our  own  Republic.  American  pa 
triots  could  not  have  been  bribed  with  Briash  gold 
as  Aguinaldo  was  with  Spanish  money — hired  to 
leave  the  country,  hired  to  abandon  their  followers. 
Aguinaldo  was.  He  is  simply  a  self-seeker.  His 
whole  gang  represents  only  a  pitiful  percentage  of 
the  Filipino  population. 

"  To  deal  with  the  rest  of  the  Filipinos,  then,  by 
giving  them  peace,  liberty  and  self-government,  is  im 
possible  (the  Admiral  thinks)  for  two  reasons.  First, 
because  Aguinaldo  is  lying  to  them,  and  they  believe 


20S  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

him  rather  than  us  ;  second,  as  long  as  he  is  making 
a  guerrilla  war  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  United 
States  to  prove  to  the  rest  of  the  people  its  good  in 
tentions,  even  if  it  had  them  ;  moreover,  because  the 
Filipinos,  even  those  who  are  not  fighting,  refuse 
to  accept  promises.  They  have  two  hundred  years  of 
reason  for  refusing.  Spain  promised  to  them  every 
thing  they  wanted  for  two  centuries  and  never  gave 
them  anything  but  oppression,  falsehood  and  pillage, 
It  must  be  understood,  therefore,  that  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  do  anything  with  the  Filipinos  by 
promises. 

Acts,  not  words,  are  necessary.  Until  Agninaldo 
and  his  irresponsible  gang  is  crushed,  it  will  be  im 
possible  for  the  United  States  to  deal  directly  with 
the  Filipino  people  even  to  give  them  absolute 
freedom. 

"  More  force  rather  than  less  until  Aguinaldo  is 
crushed  "  is  Admiral  Dewey's  keynote.  Unless  those 
leaders  are  routed  within  six  months,  he  declares, 
the  war  may  not  end  for  six  years,  and  perhaps  not 
for  sixty,  for  the  rebellion  may  then  spread  to  other 
tribes.  But  rightly  managed,  the  campaign  can  be 
ended  in  a  few  weeks,  when  the  fleet  of  nearly  forty 
warships  and  an  army  of  65,000  men  arrive  there 
next  month.  After  Aguinaldo  is  crushed,  then 
enlightened  government.  "  Treat  the  Filipinos 
honestly  and  kindly  and  let  them .  do  everything 
themselves." 

TVe  must  bear  in  mind  that,  while  Aguinaldo  was 
brought  from  Hong  Kong  in  a  government  vessel 
to  assist  us  in  securing  a  hold  over  the  Philippines, 
and  "  his  assistance  was  then  considered  by  the  Ad 
miral  as  valuable/'  he  blames  him  for  soon  show 
ing  "  the  cloven  hoof."  Dewey  upholds  truth  above 
most  moral  qualities,  and  this  half-Chinese,  half- 
Malay,  would  have  the  weakness  of  both  races  in 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  209 

using  falsehood  to  serve  a  purpose  and  even  merely 
to  be  agreeable. 

Senator  Pettigrew  eulogizes  him  as  a  patriot  and 
a  hero,  but  then  he  has  never  seen  him. 

General  Funston  has  faced  his  followers  and  he 
estimates  their  leader  as  "  shrewd  but  not  clever. 
He  circulates  and  corroborates  all  that  the  Junta 
sends  out,  and  adds  to  it  all  that  his  cunning  im 
agination  can  devise.  With  him  the  campaign  is  a 
great  confidence  game.  If  his  people  could  be  in 
duced  to  accept  the  truth  of  the  situation,  they  would 
desert  him  to-morrow."  Yet  he  seems  to  be  deep, 
if  not  sincere,  for  he  has  had  the  son,  born  to  him 
while  waging  warfare  against  his  best  friends,  chris 
tened  with  the  name  which  most  appeals  to  us — 
George  Washington  ! 

As  the  great  Napoleon  was  willing  to  abdicate — 
when  driven  to  the  wall,  in  favor  of  his  son,  perhaps, 
this  youth  will  afford  a  good  opportunity  for  his  papa 
to  glide  out  of  his  thorny  chair,  carried  on  a  litter 
from  one  jungle  stand  to  another,  and  let  him  have 
the  vacancy  when  he  is  of  the  age  to  be  our  liege 
man  ! 

In  September,  1899,  the  position  of  the  Americans 
on  Luzon  Island  might  be  thus  summarized. 

We  held  over  a  hundred  square  miles  out  of  the 
more  than  forty  thousand  occupied  more  or  less 
forcibly  by  the  insurrectionists. 

The  railroad  along  which  there  has  been  skirmish 
ing  for  half  a  year  was  ours,  except  that  there  were 
breaks  from  the  rebels  having  torn  up  the  sleepers, 
which,  when  not  mahogany,  were  burnt ;  in  the 
other  case,  they  buried  them  in  the  swamps  where 
the  heavy  wood  sank  like  oak  in  a  bog  ;  the  iron  rails 
were  similarly  disposed  of,  or  turned  into  corkscrews 
by  heating  in  the  same  fires.  Nevertheless,  what 
we  have  of  it,  places  under  our  armed  hand  several 
14 


2IO  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

provinces  and  makes  the  inhabitants  neutral,  for  on 
us  now  depend  their  supplies. 

In  the  other  islands  we  have  reconnoitering  parties, 
rather  than  forces  of  occupation  ;  thanks  to  feuds 
between  the  races  making  up  the  population,  they 
may  be  played  against  each  other  while  we  hold  what 
we  do  plant  the  flag  upon. 

The  coast  towns  captured  by  General  Lawtori, 
Hale,  and  others,  but  abandoned,  are  practically  at 
our  mercy  as  our  light  river-gunboats  and  steam- 
launches  can  shell  them  at  any  signs  of  treachery. 

The  enemy  are  now  driven  into  the  foothills,  with 
the  mountains  to  escape  into  in  event  of  a  steady 
repulsing  movement  ;  cavalry  cutting  them  off  from 
the  lower  lights,  they  should  be  followed  by  sharp 
shooters  and  dislodged  from  every  bivouac  until 
sickened  of  their  harassing  tactics. 

In  such  small  islands  as  Negros,  the  foes  are  peas- 
ants  who  take  to  arms  in  dull  intervals,  and  are  little 
more  than  banditti.  Our  regulars  are  here,  but  in 
little  number  ;  putting  down  whatever  number  col 
lect  in  a  noticeable  troop  and  dispersing  them. 

In  repairing  the  railroad,  the  trains  are  furnished 
with  a  military  escort ;  when,  therefore,  the  cars  are 
fired  upon  by  ambushed  natives,  these  soldiers  alight 
and  rout  out  the  hidden  marksmen.  The  news  is 
sent  by  telegraph  to  headquarters,  and,  if  the  attack 
is  serious,  reinforcements  proceed  to  the  rescue  by  a 
light  train  ;  this  sends  the  enemy  fleeing.  But  the 
attacks  were  resumed  next  day,  since  our  troops  were 
outnumbered,  until  of  late. 

There  is  an  absence  of  forts  in  the  new  districts 
overrun  ;  in  our  new  possessions,  there  are  no  solid 
buildings  fit  to  endure  the  earthquakes  now  and  then 
disturbing  this  Eden,  but  the  churches  and  convents, 
with  their  strong  high  walls,  a  few  government 
structures,  generally  old  and  crumbling  ;  the  native 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  21 1 

houses,  outside  of  the  city,  are  very  flimsy.  There 
fore,  following  the  practise  of  the  Spanish  and  the 
natives,  the  abandoned  churches,  long  since  stained 
with  blood,  and  therefore  desecrated,  are  used  as 
strongholds.  We  must  understand  this  so  that  "  our 
boys  should  not  be  accused  wildly  of  irreverence. 
In  answer  to  an  inquiry  from  home,  the  commander 
telegraphed  that  only  sixteen  churches  were  occupied 
by  U.  S.  troops  ;  ten  of  them  having  been  taken 
from  the  enemy  ;  three  monasteries,  also,  thus  held 
as  citadels,  were  likewise  desecrated  by  the  insur 
gents  before  we  expelled  them. 

In  any  case,  as  was  noticeable  in  the  Peninsular 
War  of  Wellington  and  Napoleon's  marshals,  for 
Spain  is  a  most  Catholic  country,  to  occupy  churches 
is  a  matter  of  course  in  warfare. 

The  improvement  in  the  choice  troops  surrounding 
Agninaldo  is  now  explained  by  stating  that  they  are 
mercenaries  lent  to  France  by  Spain  to  serve  in  the 
Tonking  War ;  here  the  French  officers,  experienced 
in  Algerine  fighting,  perfected  them  as  irregulars, 
and  so  much  so  that  they  defeated  bands  of  the 
native  and  Chinese  "  Black  Flags,"  whom  the 
French  Zouaves  had  failed  to  overcome.  It  will  soon 
be  seen  whether  the  victors  over  Apaches  and  Sioux 
cannot  win  against  those  whom  the  disciples  of 
Pelissier  and  Espinasse  failed  to  whip. 

Rumors  being  afloat  in  the  "  Walled  City/7  Manila, 
that  American  prisoners  were  badly  treated,  as  were 
the  Yorktown's  crew,  our  officers  were  on  the  alert 
to  inquire  into  this  accusation  every  time  they  sur 
prised  a  hostile  detachment. 

But  nothing  to  confirm  the  report  was  found  in 
several  sharp  struggles  which  distinguished  October. 

At  Concepcion,  Northern  Panay,  a  coxswain  of  the 
Concord  was  lured  ashore  by  a  false  white  flag  and 
disappeared.  A  battalion  of  the  18th  and  marines  of 


2 11  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

his  ship  went  ashore  to  deliver  him,  if  possible  ;  but 
the  rebels,  as  well  as  the  inhabitants,  fearing  venge 
ance,  had  quitted  the  town ;  it  was  burnt  as  a 
punishment  for  this  violation  of  martial  law. 

At  San  Isidro,  near  Oananatuan,  a  temporary 
station  was  established  after  a  little  resistance  in 
clearing  the  neighborhood  of  guerrillas.  Three 
months'  supplies  victualed  the  new  garrison. 

The  water  was  now  high,  and  many  a  rivulet  was 
swollen  into  a  river  impassable  and  swift. 

From  Iloilo  came  the  news  that,  in  spite  of  a  feud 
between  the  Visayans  and  the  Tagals,  the  leader  of 
the  latter  talked  of  attacking  the  Americans  with 
his  ten  thousand  men,  a  third  of  whom  were  reported 
to  carry  muskets. 

At  the  same  time  the  Filipinos  tried  to  obtain 
terms  of  peace,  under  guise  of  sending  in  Spanish 
prisoners.  They  were  answered  that  the  Spanish 
prisoners  would  be  received  and  well-treated,  but  the 
insurgents  could  not  be  dealt  with. 

This  persistency  of  the  rebels,  met  with  our  usual 
firmness,  may  have  come  from  desperation,  Friends 
of  the  outlaws  in  Manila  repeated  passages  in 
letters  from  the  Independent  party's  camps,  assert 
ing  that  most  were  tired  of  the  fruitless  strife,  and 
would  let  themselves  be  captured  at  the  first  oppor 
tunity. 

But  to  show  the  duplicity  of  the  race,  these  reve 
lations  were  accompanied  by  discoveries  revealing 
the  insecurity  of  the  position. 

A  lieutenant  of  the  Manila  police  had  to  be  put 
under  lock  and  key  from  being  head  of  a  plot  to  turn 
this  service  against  the  new  masters,  in  event  of  an 
uprising,  more  or  less  concurrent  with  an  approach 
of  Aguinaldo  to  the  gates. 

At  Iloilo,  where  a  revolutionary  Junta  was  formed, 
independent  of  Aguinaldo  or  under  his  auspices, 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEV.  2 1 3 

one  of  the  wealthiest  Visayans  was  arrested.  He  is 
Ruperto  Santiago,  who  posed  as  our  friend  after 
taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,  while  using  the  money 
raised  on  his  sugar — our  troops  defending  his  plan 
tations  at  Negros — to  help  his  real  friends  ;  one  of 
his  steamers  was  caught  in  the  act  of  conveying  sup 
plies  to  the  Insurgents.  His  office  was  used  for  the 
meeting  of  his  pseudo-government  to  overturn  ours. 

For  fear  his  allies  would  rise  to  rescue  him,  the 
guards  were  doubled  and  other  precautions  observed. 

The  general  opinion  is  that  the  pursuit  of  the 
beaten  foes,  particularly  with  cavalry  which  has  al 
most  the  terrifying  effect  of  horsemen  on  the  original 
people,  as  on  the  ancient  Mexicans,  will  shatter  the 
revolt.  It  is  averred  that  General  Aguimildo,  leading 
in  person,  fails  to  induce  supplies — mainly  rice — to 
come  in,  and  that  no  more  recruits  can  be  obtained. 
Brigandage  cannot  prosper  where  a  successful  re- 
pressor  lives  on  the  country,  also,  and  prevents  the 
influx  of  supplies. 

If  the  rebels  are  compelled  to  take  to  the  moun 
tains,  the  rest  and  best  of  the  Island  of  Luzon  can 
be  worked  peacefully  for  our  reimbursement. 

It  is  officially  reckoned  that,  by  the  end  of  the 
year,  we  shall  have  65,000  soldiers  in  the  Philippines, 
being  twice  those  now  patroling  the  disturbed 
quarters. 

Perhaps  the  Islands  will  be  divided  into  military 
departments,  each  with  its  general. 

Through  the  efforts  of  K.  Engelskjon,  who  enjoys 
the  confidence  of  the  Tagalo  chiefs  in  Mindanao, 
overtures  of  peace  have  been  made  to  General  Otis  at 
Manila. 

Mindanao  is  almost  equal  in  area  to  Luzon,  being 
one  of  the  two  great  islands  of  the  Philippines.  The 
Mohammedans  there  number  150,000,  and  Spain  has 
maintained  little  more  than  nominal  sovereignty. 


214  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

They  have  suffered  greatly  from  the  inroads  of  the 
Muros,  and  offer  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  sole  condition  that  sufficient 
American  garrisons  be  established  in  the  island  to 
protect  them. 

The  people  of  Iloilo  look  and  dress  like  the  Luzon 
Tagalogs,  but  the  speech  is  a  variation  of  the 
Visayan  dialects.  They  seem  a  smiling  race  who  care 
little  what  name  the  masters  bear.  Under  the 
supervision  of  the  Americans,  camped  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  town,  they  dwell  contented,  though 
they  may  be  at  heart  with  the  stampeded  Insurrectos. 
Half  the  town  is  in  ruins,  and  the  other,  such  as  is 
old  and  built  in  stone,  is  crumbling  with  age.  The 
peasants  walk  under  baskets  containing  market  stuff 
for  sale  to  the  soldiers,  or  drive  carts  drawn  by  the 
carabao  (cariboo),  or  water  buffalo,  and  the  ox-like 
tamarau,  less  tractable.  These  same  animals  are  put 
to  vehicles  of  pleasure.  The  better  class  of  Filipinos 
have  abandoned  their  pretty  abodes  in  the  suburbs, 
and  with  them  has  fallen  into  disuse  the  native 
spinning  and  weaving  ;  the  price  has  risen  of  the 
weaves  they  make.  The  river  winding  through  the 
low  and  prolifically  overgrown  country  is  nice  to 
regard,  and  the  native  huts  of  palm  and  cane  are 
picturesque.  But  the  sun  is  very  hot  and  the 
typhoons  are,  like  the  rains,  of  a  terrible  nature. 
"  Iloilo  is  reached  by  the  steamer  in  some  forty 
hours  from  Manila  over  a  generally  placid  sea. 

Within  four  days'  steaming  the  island  of  Cebu  is 
reached.  Cebu  is  ringed  with  hills  and  rugged  shore, 
with  the  more  level  land  devoted  to  sugar  and  other 
plantations.  It  ought  to  be  a  great  port  for  sending 
out  hemp,  when  we  set  the  wheels  going  round. 
The  only  animation  is  about  the  ships  loading  hemp 
for  Europe.  The  harbor  is  good  for  a  tropical  one, 
being  defended  by  a  reef  of  sand  and  volcanic  matter. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  215 

The  people  are  supposed  to  be  trustworthy ;  the 
policing  of  the  port  being  confided  to  a  native  corps, 
who  look  fairly  well  in  uniform  which  imposes  on 
their  tatterdemalion  brethren.  But  the  wiseacres 
insist  upon  it  that  they  are  in  heart  with  the  native 
cause,  on  the  principle  of  the  Hibernian  irrecon 
cilable  who  was  "  always  ag'in'  the  government." 

But  there  is  little  fear  that  the  expelled  insurrec 
tionists  will  attack  the  town,  where  our  garrison  lord 
it  tranquilly,  in  any  force.  Every  night,  their 
camp-fires  are  visible  in  the  highlands,  but  one  gets 
accustomed  to  "fire  in  the  mountain."  At  the  same 
time,  even  a  reconnaisance  has  to  be  numerous,  as  a 
slender  party  would  infallibly  be  cut  down. 

Here  was  the  first  Spanish  settlement  in  the  Archi 
pelago,  four  hundred  years  old,  but  it  has  dwindled 
to  nothing,  particularly  since  the  wealthy  class 
migrated  after  the  removal  of  the  Spanish  and  our 
assuming  rule. 

Our  officers  live  in  a  convent,  while  two  others  are 
still  open  for  educating  respectively  girls  and  boys. 
The  hospital  and  church  are  interesting  from  their 
age  ;  the  Sisters  are  a  familiar  object  on  the 
street. 

Mindanao  is  the  next  largest  island  to  Luzon,  and 
is  held  to  be  the  finest  and  most  fruitful  of  our  new 
extension.  As  no  troops  have  been  sent  to  it  yet, 
we  know  little  of  its  wealth.  But  foreigners  are  ac 
counted  more  on  the  alert,  and  Englishmen  and 
Germans  are  reputed  to  have  secured  valuable  con 
cessions  of  hard  wood  forests  and  rich  mining  lands. 
The  prospectors  are  said  to  be  delighted  with  their 
tests. 

In  Luzon,  which  is  of  similar  geological  formation, 
volcanic  (and  nature  seems  to  have  poured  out  its 
most  deeply  buried  treasures  from  craters),  our 
goldiers  who  have  had  "Western  mining  experience, 


2l6  THE  LIFE  AND   CAREER 

declare  that  they  will  remain  when  their  term  of  en 
listment  expires  and  examine  the  placers  and  pockets. 

At  the  extreme  south  of  the  Philippines  are  the 
Sulu  Islands,  brought  into  notice  by  the  fact  of  our 
treaty  with  their  so-called  Sultan,  by  which  he 
retains  his  peculiar  customs  and  habits.  His  "  inti 
mate  life  "  makes  his  position  the  "  Mormon  prob 
lem  "  of  the  distant  -East. 

They  are  Malays  and  strict  Mohammedans,  though 
the  Spanish  called  them  Moors  (Moros).  It  is  tradi 
tion  that  the  islands  were  originally  settled  by  Arabs 
who  came  over  in  the  early  Crusades ;  the  language 
called  "  Sulu  "  is  a  mixture  of  Arabian  and  Sanscrit. 
They  are  not  bad-looking,  though  their  foreheads  are 
low  and  their  skins  dark. 

The  betel-nut  chewing  habit  prevails,  and  all  who 
can  afford  it  carry  the  mixture  of  betel  and  lime  in 
a  box  more  or  less  valuable  from  the  material  and  the 
chiseling.  This  and  the  side-arms,  the  Malay  kriss 
with  its  crinkly  edge,  are  inseparable  from  the  high 
Sulu  ;  the  lower  order  carry  a  spear  as  defense,  which 
takes  the  place  of  the  North  American  Indians' 
tomakawk,  being  a  missile  as  well  as  a  hand  weapon. 

Early  in  October,  General  Bates  went  to  Maybun, 
the  Sultan's  capital,  to  bring  about  that  understand 
ing  which  makes  him  and  his  fierce  folk  neutral  in 
our  conflict  with  the  rebels,  to  whom,  however,  from 
the  difference  of  language  alone,  to  say  nothing  of 
religion,  there  was  no  affinity.  They  have  had 
nothing  to  do  with  Aguinaldo,  who  is  too  far  off. 
The  treaty  is  lucky,  for  they  are  a  savage  people 
who  gave  the  Spanish  no  end  of  bloodshed  and 
remained  unconquered  through  it  all.  The  Sulns 
obey  chiefs,  like  the  Arabs,  who  in  turn  bow  to  the 
Sultan. 

They  are  good  riders  on  a  wiry  native  animal,  use 
ful  as  an  Indian  pony,  and  would  make  a  desirable 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  21  / 

cavalry  auxiliary  force  under  white  officers  to  aid  in 
scouring  the  Luzon  mountains. 

As  the  English  employ  Sikhs  and  Goorkhas,  why 
should  we  not  hurl  these  Sulus  at  Mr.  Emilio  Agui- 
naldo's  irregulars  ? 

Jolo  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  opposite 
Maybun,  and  represents  the  wonderful  contrast  in 
this  fantastic,  happy-go-lucky  realm,  of  being  well 
laid  out  and  comparatively  blessed  with  sanitary 
precautions. 

On  inquiry,  it  turns  out  that  the  Spanish  for  once 
made  a  habitable  town.  Under  the  rule  of  Spanish 
Governor  Arolas,  this  place  was  built  on  a  spit  run 
ning  out  into  the  calm  sea.  He  could  not  very  well 
overrun  their  possession,  as  the  warlike  people 
objected,  but  he  was  king  in  his  own  castle.  The 
Spanish  were  indeed  cooped  up  in  their  walls  by  an 
amusing  custom  of  the  natives ;  when  one  of  tliem 
felt  that  life  is  a  burden,  he  was  wont  to  go  to  the 
priest  of  his  faith,  and  vow  to  enter  into  Paradise  by 
having  one  or  more  deaths  of  infidels  upon  his  con 
science.  This  gave  him  the  title  of  Juramentado, 
or  One-who-has  sworn  (to  kill). 

Thereupon  he  would  furbish  his  matchlock  or  file 
the  creases  of  his  kriss,  that  tolerable  antetype  of 
our  serrated  cake-knife,  and  go  upon  the  hunt  for 
unbelievers. 

"When  their  number  was  not  to  be  despised,  the 
Sultan  used  to  remember  that  he  had  acknowledged 
the  supremacy  of  Spain,  and  notify  his  brother-ruler 
that  his  perverse  subjects  were  running  a-muck. 

Once,  when  the  stock  of  Jnramentados  was  trouble 
some  beyond  endurance,  General  Arolas  mustered  a 
fighting  column,  brushed  the  murderers  out  of  his 
path  and  crossed  the  island  where  he  pushed  the 
fugitives  into  Maybun  ;  storming  it,  he  set  fire  t» 
the  houses  where  the  Juramentados  had  taken  ref- 


2l8  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

uge,  and  left  word  to  the  Sultan  what  he  had  done, 
and  the  reason,  adding  that  the  Sultan  had  better 
be  on  his  guard  personally,  as  several  Spanish 
lunatics  were  loose,  who  had  taken  a  vow  to  kill  all, 
and  several  whom  they  encountered  who  did  not  be 
long  to  the  most  Catholic  Faith. 

Any  way,  Arolas  left  his  best  monument  in  a  pretty 
and  salubrious  town. 

It  might  smell  sweeter,  but  what  can  you  expect 
where  there  are  pearl-fisheries  and  the  flesh  is  al 
lowed  to  rot  to  discover  the  precious  globules  ? 
This  industry  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese,  the 
more  of  a  monopoly  now  as  the  Tagalos  who  did 
attend  to  it,  went  home  to  Luzon  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  insurrection  against  our  in-coming. 

As  in  former  Australia,  it  was  forbidden  in  society 
to  hunt  up  a  pedigree,  so  here,  one  is  hushed  about 
paternity  ;  the  Spanish  used  these  far-off  strands  to 
dump  penal-servitude  victims  upon  ;  to  tell  the 
truth,  many  of  the  wretches  had  committed  only 
political  offenses. 

Jolo  will  be  suited  to  our  merchants,  but  not 
Maybun  until  washed  and  cleansed,  and  kept  so. 

Our  arrangement  with  the  Sultan  will  defer  this 
for  the  proverbial  "bime-by"  of  pigeon  English  or 
the  Spanish  "to-morrow." 

In  the  meantime  he  keeps  his  slaves  under  our 
warranty. 

The  extension  of  the  Manila-Dagupan  railroad, 
which  must  be  accomplished  in  our  efforts  to  civilize 
the  island,  will  pierce  the  haunts  of  the  Igorrote- 
Chinese,  a  blend  of  Malay  pirates  and  Chinese  free 
booters  not  of  happy  augury  for  the  strain. 

Behind  them,  up  in  the  mountains  where  the  dis 
banded  Filipinos  must  retreat,  and  perhaps  have  to 
contend  with  them  for  the  fastnesses,  are  the  Igor- 
rotes, 


OF  ADMIRAL   DEWEY.  2IQ 

They  look  like  our  own  Red  Indians  but  are  de 
scribed  by  the  few  adventurers  who  know  them  as  less 
fierce.  They  seem  a  fair  specimen  of  the  noble  un- 
contaminated  savage,  as  the  Spanish  never  got  the 
mastery  over  them.  They  are  brave,  show  some  re 
spect  for  their  wives,  and  have  a  good  idea  of  fair- 
play.  The  blood  feud  prevails,  based  upon  the 
Mosaic  Law. 

Nearly  twenty  years  since,  they  repelled  General 
Primo  de  Rivera  with  substantial  injury  to  him, 
which  led  to  their  being  left  undisturbed  ever  since. 
They  fought  on  the  insurgents'  side,  and  manfully, 
at  Caloocan  and  met  the  fire  of  our  batteries  with 
Zulu  and  Arab  valor.  They  collect  preserved  heads 
of  their  foes,  like  the  Head-hunters  of  the  Ceylonese 
jungles. 

They  are  very  hostile  to  the  Christian  religion,  its 
doctrines  of  peace  to  all  men  and  the  concomitant 
moralities  being  incomprehensible  to  them. 

In  Cayagan  one,  more  witty  than  his  fellows,  was 
a  prominent  spokesman  in  venting  their  incredulity 
and  repugnance  to  the  maxims  inculcated  by  a 
missionary's  examples  from  "  Lives  of  the  Saints." 
lie  protested  that  no  colored  man  was  pictured  in 
the  missals  and  calendars.  It  was  not  precisely 
true,  for  there  are  black  saints  and  even  a  black  or 
African  Madonna,  but  the  missionary  is  said  to  have 
been  silenced. 

They  are  confirmed  cattle-lifters  when  war  is  not 
absorbing  their  young  men.  They,  too,  will  prob 
ably  be  turned  against  the  Tagalos,  like  the  Macca- 
bee  warriors,  their  neighbors. 

For  General  Funston  thinks  that  these  warlike 
races  are  inclined  to  bear  arms  on  our  behalf  ;  they 
would  be  glad  to  serve  for  a  trifle,  say,  ten  dollars 
in  silver  per  month.  Students  of  the  medley  of 
races  under  our  flag  say  that  they  would  be  good 


22O  THE   LIFE   AND   CAREER 

soldiers  if  officered  with  our  "  West  Pointers  "  ;  and 
they  would  create  no  such  dislike  and  race-hatred  as 
the  negroes  would  raise. 

As  for  the  large  percentage,  Admiral  Dewey  ex 
pressed  his  judgment  to  the  effect  that  the}7  were 
better  fitted  for  partial  self-government  than  the 
native  Cubans. 

If  any  considerable  force  were  raised  in  an  auxiliary 
army,  their  place  as  cultivators  could  readily  be  sup 
plied  with  coolie*  ;  at  present,  the  Chinese  are  ex 
cluded,  under  the  Exclusion  Law,  and  a  ship-load 
of  them  was  stopped. 

With  the  missionary  for  the  soul  should  go  the 
missionary  for  the  body  ;  the  American  smith,  car 
penter,  wood -worker,  miner  and  director  of  tillage. 
Then  the  miscalculation  of  our  cavillers  would  be  man 
ifest  ;  that  we  have  already  expended  more  upon 
our  new  territory  than  a  hundred  years'  revenue 
will  recoup. 

The  question  of  training  our  Eastern  Elephant 
engages  and  divides  our  statesmen,  The  two  camps 
are  called  the  Imperialist  or  Expansionist,  and  the 
Anti-Imperialist. 

On  the  one  hand,  the  Government  is  reproached 
for  slaughtering  patriots  as  earnest  as  our  fore 
fathers  in  breasting  the  British  ;  seizing  and  holding 
the  Philippines  by  conquest  or  purchase  is  styled 
morally  deplorable  ;  like  the  Cubans,  the  Filipinos 
should  have  home  rule  ;  they  are  to  be  allowed  to 
try  a  kind  of  government  of  which  they  can  have  no 
conception. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  we  have  seen,  the  military 
on  the  field  want  the  rebellion  suppressed  before  a 
reform  is  attempted  ;  they  affirm  that,  left  to  them 
selves,  the  Isles  will  fall  into  the  hands  of  some  for 
eign  power  intriguing  in  that  part  and  going  about 
-with  mouth  open  like  the  Cockney  in  the  land  where 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  221 

the  pigs  ran  ready  roasted,  and  squeaked  "  Come, 
eat  me  !  "  or  the  history  would  be  a  series  of  ephem 
eral  presidents,  as  in  South  America.  Certainly, 
the  Catholic  priesthood  see  no  likelihood  of  our  quit 
ting  with  the  plow  in  the  just-commenced  furrow  ; 
they  are  to  appoint  an  American  Bishop  to  the  See 
of  Luzon. 

Senator  Platt  declares  that  "  the  unavoidable  con 
sequence  of  Admiral  Dewey's  triumph  was  our  con 
trol  of  the  Philippines."  And  another  senator,  Lind 
say,  tellingly  assures  us  that  "  American  dominion 
in  the  Philippines  will  destroy  none  of  the  ends  of 
government ;  will  disregard  no  one  of  the  inalienable 
rights  of  man  ;  will  sanctify  no  abuse  or  usurpation, 
but  will  terminate  the  despotism  under  which  their 
people  have  lived  for  more  than  three  hundred  years." 
So  be  it  ! 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

ALL  ENDS  WELL  WHEN  TO  THE  KNELL  OF  THE  MERRY 
WEDDING-BELL. 

THE  announcement,  without  its  being  undeniably 
authentic,  that  the  Admiral  contemplated  matri 
mony  for  the  second  time,  promptly  denied,  but  im 
mediately  revived  by  Washingtonian  gossips,  kept 
the  quid-nuncs  on  the  alert  at  the  Capital,  and  the 
interest  in  the  prospect  was  soon  general.  When, 
therefore,  the  bearing  of  his  intimate  friends,  and 
his  frequent  calls  at  Mrs.  McLean's  house,  together 
with  his  refusal  to  accompany  the  Presidential  party 
on  its  electioneering  tour  (particularly  directed 
against  Mr.  McLean,  candidate  for  the  governorship 
of  Ohio,  being  Mrs.  McLean's  son)  all  seemed  to 
confirm  the  report,  no  one  was  astonished  at  hearing 


222  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

that  the  marriage  had  taken  place,  most  strictly 
private,  with  only  a  witness  or  two. 

It  was  bruited  on  the  7th  of  November  that  Lieuten 
ant  Caldwell,  Dewey's  friend,  secretary  and  trusted 
factotum,  had  been  seen  around  and  about  in  a  state 
of  perturbation  which  no  ordinary  impetus  could 
have  thrown  one  into  who  had  shared  the  Spanish 
missiles  at  the  Battle  of  Manila  Bay. 

Indeed,  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  been  to  the 
court  to  procure  a  marriage  license. 

The  bride,  it  was  no  wonder,  was  to  be  Mrs.  Hazen, 
daughter  of  Mrs.  McLean,  as  before  related. 

The  license  was  No.  9316,  which  those  who  pre 
tend  to  prophesy  from  numbers,  pronounced  fortu 
nate  :  there  are  three  and  its  multiples  galore  ;  there 
is  a  nine,  that  is,  three  threes,  in  the  sum  ;  on  the 
whole,  satisfactory. 

When  and  where  was  the  ceremony  to  be  per 
formed  ? 

Those  who  knew  that  Mrs.  Hazen  had  been  already- 
worried  by  all  who  sprang  into  activity  at  the  first 
mention  of  her  name  coupled  with  the  hero's,  said 
that  she  meant  to  cut  short  the  notoriety,  the  rush 
of  newspaper  reporters,  the  swarms  of  curiosity- 
seekers  who  came  to  stare  at  her  mother's  house  and 
the  one  which  the  Nation  had  presented  to  her 
future  husband. 

Out  of  public  sight,  her  health  and  peace  would 
no  longer  suffer. 

All  the  parties  concerned,  with  their  adherents, 
had  been  making  odd  and  hap-hazard  journeys  hither 
and  thither,  their  abodes  were  bombarded  with  tele 
grams  and  letters  ;  florists'  messengers  were  watched 
to  see  where  a  more  than  usually  monstrous  bouquet 
was  left  ;  in  short,  Paul  Pry  was  the  god  of  the  day. 

More  than  all,  Admiral  Dewey  had  become  eclipsed, 
he  who,  instead  of  calling  a  cab,  took  to  plain  walk- 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  223 

ing  about  the  streets,  so  that  he  was  setting  an  ex 
ample  of  the  English  "constitutional." 

Nevertheless,  those  who  esteemed  themselves  bosom 
friends  were  almost  in  tears,  and  hanging  around 
the  back  stairs  had  availed  nothing,  since  the  servants 
merely  looked  wise  and  the  Admiral's  Mongolian 
domestic  is  impenetrable,  like  "  John,"  when  he  has 
a  secret. 

The  laf.ies  vented  their  vexation  by  declaring  that 
Mrs.  Dewey-to-be  would  not  receive  any  presents, 
for  not  making  the  affair  one  of  those  functions  in 
which  the  society  tabbies  delight. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  men  laughed  their  own 
Disappointment  off.  They  said  that  the  mystifica 
tion  was  worthy  one  who  had  hoaxed  the  Spanish 
And,  eke,  the  wily  Filipinos  ;  at  the  same  time  that 
they  almost  acquitted  him  of  the  jugglery,  saying 
that  the  lady  was  roguish  and  was  the  source  of  the 
deception. 

However,  since  the  marriage  was  now  settled,  the 
place  must  be  the  bride's  mother's,  unless  a  grander 
scene  was  found. 

After  all,  that  well-known  mansion  was  suitable. 
It  was  built  by  Alexander  Shepard,  sometime  Gov 
ernor  of  the  District  of  Columbia  ;  for  a  long  period 
the  Russian  Embassy  tenanted  it  and  its  galas  were 
famous  :  several  years  ago,  Mrs.  McLean  became  the 
owner.  In  her  widowhood,  her  daughter  resided 
with  her  ;  and  after  the  loss  of  her  son,  it  lost  its 
splendor  which  was  only  just  being  restored. 

Therefore,  it  was  before  and  in  the  neighborhood 
of  this  residence  that  the  throng  collected,  comment 
ing  on  the  movements  of  the  household,  relating  what 
had  occurred,  and  suggesting  what  might  follow. 

It  was  said  that  Lieutenant  Caldwell,  after  securing 
the  license,  had  conferred  with  the  pastor  of  Mrs. 
Hazen's  church.  Several  years  ago,  the  lady  became 


224  THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER 

a  Roman  Catholic,  and  only  the  day  before,  her 
going  where  she  had  a  pew  and  was  a  regular  attend 
ant,  was  construed  into  her  bidding  the  Eev.  Father 
Mackin  to  clear  away  obstacles  from  the  rest  of  the 
path  thus  opened  to  the  altar. 

Indeed,  whether  prompted  by  Lieutenant  Caldwell 
or  his  parishioner,  the  priest  had  run  over  to  Balti 
more  to  procure  a  dispensation  from  the  matrimonial 
Curia  there,  since  the  Admiral  was  not  of  the 
same  church  as  his  selected  one,  but  a  Presbyterian. 

Cardinal  Gibbons  was  in  the  South,  traveling  to 
New  Orleans,  and  the  seal  and  signature  is  that  of 
his  vicar-general,  Bishop  Curtis.  Thus  fortified,  the 
pastor  of  St.  Paul's  hurried  back  to  his  church. 

So  veiled  had  all  these  actions  been,  that,  even  to 
his  assistants,  Father  Foley,  and  a  young  priest, 
Father  Hurburt,  called  in  to  his  aid,  no  word  waa 
breathed  of  the  persons  to  be  united. 

From  New  York,  had  come  the  intelligence  to  the 
initiated,  that  the  lady's  trousseau  was  in  preparation 
there. 

It  was  added  that  the  dressmaker  was  flurried  ex 
cessively  by  the  patronage,  and  had  said  to  the  Ad 
miral,  who  bad  shaken  hands  with  her,  that  she  had 
never  had  a  greater  honor  paid  her  and  did  not  ex 
pect  the  like  to  occur  again.  Poor  woman,  not  be 
ing  strong,  the  exertion  of  getting  the  work  done  in 
time,  precipitated  her  death,  which  the  superstitions 
foolishly  termed  a  "hoodoo." 

A  circumstance  as  little  affecting  the  person  chiefly 
concerned,  as  the  fatality  attending  the  artists  en 
gaged  on  the  Dewey  Memorial  ! 

The  crowd  lingering  at  the  McLean  mansion,  saw 
the  ladies,  the  hostess,  and  her  two  daughters,  go 
out  in  their  carriage,  all  the  world  as  if  for  "  the 
appetizer"  before  lunch,  and  thought  they  were  de 
ceived  once  again. 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  22$ 

But,  at  the  same  time,  a  carriage  had  left  Dewey's 
residence,  bearing  him  and  Lieutenant  Caldwell,  and 
these  vehicles  had  the  same  destination — the  modest 
and  unpretentious  Church  of  St.  Paul. 

A  little  before  ten  in  the  morning,  the  first  car 
riage  drew  up  there  ;  it  was  the  gentlemen's.  There 
was  not  a  single  bystander  ;  in  nautical  phraseology, 
the  coast  was  clear  ! 

For  a  few  minutes,  the  bridegroom  remained  in 
his  coach,  in  the  best  of  spirits,  though  he  might 
have  been  supposed  impatient ;  but  very  soon,  before 
the  hour,  another  carriage  was  driven  up,  and  the 
gentlemen,  alighting,  hastened  to  hand  out  the  three 
ladies. 

They  all  passed  into  the  plain,  simply-furnished 
rectory,  as  the  difference  in  creed  of  the  parties  com 
pelled  them  to  be  united  aside  from  the  sanctuary. 

None  of  the  ladies  carried  flowers  ;  the  only  floral 
decorations  there  was  a  bunch  of  white  and  yellow 
chrysanthemums,  in  a  vase  in  the  center  of  the  sit 
ting-room  table  ;  prominent  among  the  other  decora 
tive  fixtures,  was  a  portrait  of  the  present  Poj)e,  given 
to  the  rector  in  the  Vatican  during  a  visit  toRome. 

The  priest  and  his  two  assistants  were  in  plain 
black  cassocks. 

They  were  presented  to  the  bridegroom  and  his 
"  second."  The  former  wore  the  American  conven 
tional  morning  dress  for  this  occasion  ;  black  coat, 
gray  striped  trousers  and  patent-leather  shoes  ;  his 
hat  was  the  high  silk  one  in  vogue.  The  lieutenant 
was  similarly  garbed.  Neither  wore  gloves,  accord 
ing  to  the  latest  English  regulation. 

The  mother  and  the  sister  of  the  bride  were  attired 
in  black  from  head  to  foot.  The  queen  of  the  happy 
proceedings  wore  half-mourning  :  a  long  stylish  black 
wrap  cloak  trimmed  with  silver  fox  and  lined  with 
lavender  silk,  but  laid  aside  during  the  actual  cere- 

'5 


226  THE   LIFE  AND   CAREER 

mony.  The  robe  was  a  "  dead  "  color,  in  brocade, 
called  "ashes  of  roses,"  trimmed  with  silk  fringe 
and  rare  old  lace  ;  on  one  side  a  panel,  and  ruffles 
around  the  yoke  ;  an  over-skirt  "  effect  "  was  due  to 
a  lace  garniture  ;  the  New  York  martyr  to  Fashion 
had  done  her  work  deftly,  although  the  viewers  were 
so  limited  in  number.  It  was  not  unworthy  a  cathe 
dral  wedding.  Her  gloves  were  white,  and  the  silk 
looked  almost  snowy. 

If  the  costumes,  after  our  depressing  Anglo-Saxon 
mode,  were  rather  lugubrious,  the  solemnity  did  not 
prevent  a  shimmer  of  felicity  exhaling  which  alle 
viated  the  superficial  aspect. 

The  forms  of  uniting  two  varying  in  creed  are  very 
brief ;  in  five  minutes  all  the  words  were  uttered. 

Previously  the  priest  had  spoken  this  address  : 

"  Before  pronouncing  the  solemn  words  which  will 
bind  you  forever  together  it  may  be  well  to  forget  for 
a  moment  the  things  that  are  around  us  and  to  look 
upward.  We  are  the  children  of  God  and  we  have 
a  right  to  call  upon  Him  in  joy  and  in  sorrow.  We 
need  His  help  in  both  extremes  and  never  more  than 
now,  for  although  the  promises  you  are  about  to 
make  are  easily  made  and  the  work  of  a  moment, 
their  fulfilment  is  the  work  of  a  lifetime. 

"  We  call  upon  God  to  witness  and  to  bless  this 
union  of  which  He  is  the  author  and  which  He  has 
made  sacred.  No  matter  how  generous  and  devoted 
you  may  be  to  each  other,  there  are  in  every  life 
moments  of  trial  when  we,  in  our  weakness,  need  the 
help  that  comes  from  above,  and  this^  help  will  be 
given  in  its  fulness  in  return  for  the  faithful  fulfil 
ment  of  our  obligation. 

NOBLESSE  OBLIGE. 

"The  higher  your  position  in  life,  the  more  in 
cumbent  upon  you  is  the  faithful  fulfilment  of  your 


OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY.  22? 

obligation  and  the  more  rigerous  the  accounts  that 
will  be  exacted.  The  neglect  of  these  obligations 
will  cast  its  shadow  upon  eternity. 

"  But  this  hour,  we  hope,  marks  the  beginning  of 
a  career  which  will  make  you  wiser,  better  and  more 
useful  to  your  fellow  creatures  in  this  life  and  the 
life  beyond  it,  and  when  death  at  last  shall  break  the 
link  which  binds  you,  as  death  alone  can  break  it, 
may  that  last  hour  find  the  two  hands  as  fondly 
clasped  and  the  two  hearts  as  closely  joined  as  they 
are  to-day,  and  may  the  joys  of  this  life  be  a  fore 
taste  of  the  joys  that  are  to  come." 

After  the  final  sentence  was  pronounced,  the  Bene 
dict  leaned  forward  and  kissed  his  prize,  whereupon 
the  congratulations  inundated  both  the  blushing  ones. 

The  worthy  Father  was  gallant — he  took  Mrs. 
Dewey's  extended  hand  and  remarked  that  he  was  to 
be  the  first  one  to  congratulate  her  in  her  new  name. 

The  strain  over,  there  was  a  little  more  in  a  lighter 
key. 

Before  studying  for  the  priesthood,  Father  Mackin 
had  been  a  seaman  on  a  packet  plying  between  Wash 
ington,  or  Baltimore,  and  England.  He  had  run 
away  from  home  to  do  that ;  but,  on  repenting,  he 
had  returned  to  his  books. 

"  It  was  on  finding  that  it  is  not  given  to  every 
one  to  rise  to  an  Admiralship,"  continued  he,  wittily, 
"I  dropped  over  the  side  upon  the  hassock  !  " 

Dewey  declared  he  was  very  glad  that  he  had  been 
married  by  a  sea-farer. 

It  was  now  the  bride's  turn  to  show  her  native  good 
spirits. 

"By  the  way,  Father  Mackin,"  said  she,  with 
pretty,  pretended  severity,  "  you  wrote  me  last  sum 
mer  that  my  pew  was  growing  musty  from  disuse. 
You  will  have  to  change  the  word  now  from  musty 
to  Mil.  Dewey!" 


228   THE  LIFE  AND  CAREER  OF  ADMIRAL  DEWEY. 

Hence  it  was  that  the  gentleman  and  ladies  left 
the  priests  smiling,  and  carried  away  laughter  with 
them  into  their  carriages. 

Back  rolled  the  two  vehicles,  this  time  with  the 
identical  destination  :  Mrs.  McLean's,  where  the 
breakfast  was  waiting. 

There  were  no  other  invites  waiting,  though. 

In  repartee  to  a  quip  that  the  couple  had  been  in 
great  haste  over  this  marriage,  the  Admiral  quietly 
replied  that  the  engagement  had  been  formed  before 
he  departed  for  Manila  !  This  renewed  the  merri 
ment  at  the  table,  decorated  with  Bride  roses. 

After  an  hour,  and  a  change  into  traveling  dress, 
the  happy  pair  were  driven  to  the  Pennsylvania 
R.  R.  Station,  where  they  took  the  midday  train  for 
New  York. 

Secretary  Long  saw  them  off  and  added  his  felici 
tations.  There  was  no  demonstration,  as  few  people 
were  about,  and  those  who  recognized  the  illustrious 
passenger  politely  refrained  from  that  noisy  greet 
ing  of  which  the  Victor  of  Manila  had  undergone  an 
excess. 

We  can  best  conclude  our  history  with  these  lines 
of  good  wishes,  which  appear  like  the  united  out 
burst  of  the  great  naval  hero's  innumerable  admirers: 

"  To  the  gallant  Admiral  and  the  charming  woman 
whom  he  has  this  day  taken  for  his  bride  the  Ameri 
can  people  will  join  in  a  mighty  chorus  of  congratu 
lation  and  good  wishes.  The  great  sea  warrior  has 
won  his  most  glorious  victory  and  his  lovely  consort 
her  proudest  conquest.  If  their  lives  are  as  happy 
as  their  countrymen  shall  wish,  their  future  course 
will  be  over  placid  seas  with  fair  winds  and  to  a  haven 
nnshadowed  by  a  cloud." 


THE   END. 


TURN 


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